Rosalía has always been one of pop music’s most forward thinking artists. Her newest album, Motomami, combined her more traditional flamenco music with some modern day flairs, along with a myriad of different genres and sounds, all of which were a success! When she announced her tour, I knew I had to be there, no matter the price. With how innovative her music is, I had a feeling that the live performance was going to be just as boundary pushing. Not only did her performance live up to expectations, but we ended the show in awe! My friend and I talked for at least an hour afterwards nonstop about all the different incredible moments in her show! Everything from her going in the audience to help her sing the Bad Bunny collaboration track, “La Noche de Anoche”, to the awe-striking performance of “De Plata” while wearing a 40-foot black gown while tearing up. Even just from the traditional performing aspects, Rosalía is a top tier performer, but what I think is most important about her new tour is how she integrates technology and cameras into the show.
Instead of keeping cameras on the sideline, she has a certain person that uses a handheld Ronin DJI camera throughout the entire show to get the best shots possible. It doesn’t matter if he ends up blocking the view of people for a few seconds, the shot is more important. That means that while performing, there are going to be times where your view of the performance is blocked. Heck, sometimes even full performances of songs were only adequately viewed through the screens. For example, her performance of "Bulerías" consisted solely of her performing towards the camera while all her dancers walked in a complete circle around her (video below). When watching her performing this track live, it makes more sense to watch the screen of the performance than the actual performance happening in front of you.
This, and many other songs on there, are a direct reference to her TikTok live performance that dropped a few days after her Motomami album. The film was made to be viewed vertically on a mobile device, not horizontally. I can’t think of any other somewhat long-form music content that was made to be viewed vertically. There was a specific reason that she used this in her performance, which is to highlight the way that people consume content these days. TikTok, and social media as a whole, is how we view content the majority of the time these days. By adding these up close cameras, it is making the content, her show, ready for social media by just filming it. Of course, that idea is fairly controversial. Why should someone make their show just for the screen, shouldn't shows be experienced without your phone?
Yes, performances are something to mainly experience without your device. Filming an entire concert is not only separating yourself from your concert, but it likely annoys the other people around you. But, I also know that there is no going back from technology. The only way to possibly get rid of technology is to lock up people’s phones in those Yondr bags. Jack White does this, and it did help feel more in the moment at the show. But what having no videos of the show did, is that it makes it harder to recall specific memories from the show. I know I loved it, but I can’t remember many specific things from the show. Having a few short videos of a performance helps me remember specific moments of the show. For example, from the Rosalía show, I have a video where she is singing “G3 N15” on a spinning platform (video timestamped below). I likely would have forgotten that she even had a spinning platform, but the short 20-second video helps me remember that. Her making her performance more content friendly is just a show of how society is moving forward, for better, or for worse.
This style of performing was only amplified during her Coachella performance. When I saw her in September, my friend and I were only a row or two back from the front, so we didn’t need to look at the screens most of the time. But at Coachella, I was so far back that the screens were a necessity. Having that camera person following her around made the performance feel much more intimate than any other performance to 50,000 people I’ve ever seen. It’s not like she always played to the camera either. There were still plenty of songs, maybe even the majority, where she performed like a traditional performer would. But, she played towards the camera enough to make anyone in the audience feel connected, no matter where you are. This was an idea that according to her director of photography, Lucas Casanovas, had never been done before! At least, not on this scale. So for her to attempt to use everything from IPhones to the fanciest handheld camera I’ve ever seen in order to create something unique for her audience, I admire the willingness to go for something unique!
Of course, there are all the usual things about her performances that I think she does better than just about anyone else. Her vocal capabilities are incredible! The dancing was well executed. The stage design was simple, but was unique and only accentuated the incredible vocals and stage presence! She even cried multiple times on stage while singing particularly sad ballads, which is something I’ve never seen done before. The other thing she did especially fantastic was to walk the line between the rehearsed show and improvising with the crowd perfectly! For example, Kendrick Lamar’s tour from last year was amazing, but it felt like a play instead of a concert. Everything was rehearsed to the steps that he took, and Kendrick only acknowledged the city of Milwaukee once. He barely even spoke to the crowd. Rosalía had the same attention to detail during the actual songs, but would break character in between. She had no problem going from serious pop diva to joking around with the audience. She was even able to improvise with a book that was thrown on stage from the crowd. It was clear that in-between songs, there is no character being played. Rosalía was more than willing to accept Dr. Simi dolls and whatever else the crowd had instead of staying in character.
Rosalía has arguably pushed concerts into the present day with this newest tour. Sure, there were some critics of it. People were calling it too “camera-focused” and even “televised karaoke”, both of which feel a bit harsh. She clearly demonstrated during the show that she could have gone up there and just sang without all the extra additions, but instead, she chose to do something unique. No one else at a festival has been able to connect with the audience that large the way she did, and that was all thanks to the camera work. It's someone that people don't even recognize that needs addressing. Over the past couple weeks at Summerfest, I've seen people in the first few rows still take videos of the screen to the side instead of just recording the artist themselves. These were from people of all ages, not just Gen Z. The same thing has happened at every festival I've been too. I'll try to be watching the artist themselves, and people in my line of sight will be looking at the screen instead. Rosalía realized that she could use this to her advantage, and created something unique!
Comments