A Spanish Legend in Milan – Fund for Education Abroad

A most Anticipated NIght

This blog arrives a day late because I wanted to talk about what I did Sunday night. Sundays are the days I picked to post about my experiences while abroad and unfortunately the event fell on a Sunday this week. Well, I went to a concert. My roommate and I bought the tickets back in October when she found he was going to be in Milan. At first I wasn’t too sure about who the artist was, but after listening to some of his songs I knew exactly who he is. I doubt many people my age or even people from the United States know who he is. Nevertheless, enough teasing, I saw Enrique Bunbury. He is a Spanish rock singer who was really popular in the 80’s when he was the front-man for a band called Hereos del Silencio.

We had been looking forward to this night since before we bought the tickets. I love going to concerts and I especially love rock concerts. It is my favorite genre of music, old and new. However, I was already familiar with Bunbury because of my parents. My dad loves Hereos del Silencio and my mom is fond of Bunbury’s music as a solo artist. Therefore, I grew up listening to his music. Before the concert I was more familiar with his older work. His music from the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000. I don’t like going to concerts without knowing the songs of the artist, so I had to become familiar to his newer songs, especially the new album.

Hours Before the show

The week before the concert, my roommate and I kept telling ourselves that we had to print out the email with the confirmation information. Of course, just telling ourselves to do it does not mean that things were done. We kept putting it off and putting it off that whole week. It was mainly due to our school schedule. We got out pretty late that week and after class we both just wanted to get home. Well, because of that, we ended up scurrying Sunday afternoon trying to find a printing place open on Sunday’s. Fortunately, I found one in the metro station at the Milano Duomo. Unfortunately, we were charged sooo much more than we normally pay with the printing place near the university. It was our own fault for putting it off for so long.

The process to get ready was harder than I imagined it would be. I have a tendency of wanting to look nice when I go out, and my roommate felt the same. So, it took a while for us to decide what to wear. Normally I would wear a nice shirt and not think about it too much, but this time was very different. Not so much because it was a rock concert, but because it was FREEZING COLD. Keep in mind this was before we even went to print out our email, so we had to pick an outfit that was warm. But, it couldn’t be too warm because the concert was in an inside venue, where it would get hot really fast. We both agreed to endure the cold a little and wear something that was a bit warm but not too warm.

At the Venue

We got our email printed and headed to the venue. It was relatively close to our house, but walking in heels the whole way was not an option, so we took the bus and then walked a little. As I had suspected, most of the people at the concert were older than my roommate and I, and were mostly Spanish-speakers. Before the event, I wasn’t sure how popular Bunbury is in Italy. I knew that in Latin America and other Spanish speaking nations, he is very popular. But I wasn’t sure how much Italy liked him. Turns out, they didn’t need to because there were enough Spanish-speakers living in Milan that wanted to see him. We got our tickets and then waited in line to get in. They ticket we bought was a “posto unico” meaning it was just a general standing area.

Once we were inside we were surprised to see how close we actually were to the stage. It wasn’t a massive room but it was pretty big, with a balcony and everything. It is like a House of Blues type venue, meaning it has a bar and the general standing area and then a balcony and the stage of course. The vibe of the room got me really excited. The DJ was playing rock songs while we waited, which had me ready to bang my head to some sick guitar riffs. I decided not to drink because I don’t really like drinking at concerts. I like to enjoy the event without any added influences. The waiting didn’t bother me because it was pretty warm inside, and people were acting pretty civil and not pushing.

And so it begins

My favorite part of any concert is the entrance. I love when the lights dim and any music playing in the background fads along with the lights. You hear people screaming and cheering getting pumped. You feel everyone that was off doing something else rush to their spot. Then the stage lights come on. In this concert, you hear faint strum of a guitar, suddenly a few shadows appear and the band gets in position. Then, the main man emerges slowly. Then the music gets progressively faster and the smoke and lights become less blinding. Before you know it you’re listening to the 4th song the artist decided to sing for that tour. I never forget that first feeling I get when a concert starts.

For someone who is in his 50’s Bunbury really knows how to put on a show. That or I just love rock. Sometimes more than the actual singing, I find myself absolutely loving the guitar solos. And there were plenty of guitar solos in this show. I didn’t want to take too many videos, since I don’t like doing that when I’m at a concert. However, I felt like I had to because I know how much my parents like this artist. In fact, I was going to buy them tickets for his show in San Diego back in February when he was scheduled to go. That ended up not happening because it sold out really quickly. Which actually brings me a little beef I have with society.

Older people are WORSE than millennials and Gen Z when it comes to phones during concerts. I was astonished by how many people literally recorded the whole concert. Some people were recording the concert on Facebook live. I really was surprised.

Hasta luego Enrique

Sadly, as all things, the concert had to end. This is where the night turned a little sour. Not only because the show was over, but because a lot of crappy things happened afterwards. The band members started throwing guitar picks at the crowd so they could keep them. That was fine people were civil about it. Then the lead guitarist threw a towel in our direction. Before I recount what happened, I just want to comment on how annoying fan-boys are. I don’t know why people always criticize fan-girls for crying and screaming when they see someone they love, when fan-boys are even worse. They are aggressive to the point of making things uncomfortable. Back to the towel, several hands got a hold of that towel. Before we realized it there was a literal tug-a-war happening for a towel.

My roommate and I were separated by the tug-a-war happening literally right in front of us. They kept pulling and pulling and making a lot of people fall. I don’t know where it came from but a beer landed on my roommate and she was completely soaked in beer, over a towel. A much larger man got in between the two guys tugging and managed to get them to stop, but not before several fell and probably hurt themselves a little, or ended up covered in beer. We get out of the venue and head out to order a taxi. We waited for almost 20 minutes because the taxi we ordered the first time that arrived in 5 minutes was taken from us by a group. It was a bitter ending, but those events were not enough to taint my experience.