The one that was supposed to be the culmination of the Andrés Calamaro concert, this Saturday in Cali, with the interpretation of Skinny, He ended with a disagreement between the interpreter and his audience. During the choir, the Argentine singer paused to dedicate his song to “All bullfighters, farmers, banderilleros and fans who are left without work”, in a message in defense of bullfights, which in Colombia were prohibited in 2024, although the measure will enter into force in 2027. “They voted for that, for leaving them in the street,” he added. Part of the public of the Cañaveralejo Arena – previously Plaza de Toros de Cañaveralejo, where in December a bullfighting season is still carried out – responded with shouts in rejection of that position. Calamaro reacted: “Sorry, they are canceled and blocked. Until never.”
After this statement, the singer left the stage for a few minutes. Meanwhile, his musicians continued chanting: “It doesn’t hurt me, it’s not bad”The clash was not there. Several assistants narrated the experience in their social networks, and many described the attitude of Calamaro throughout the concert. According to the attendees, the moment of tension that is seen in the video that has circulated was not the only one. The soloist, who was a member of the Rodriguez and the grandparents of nothing Complete recital, I left two minutes on stage in an instrumental passage and we executed the 22 songs of the repertoire. ”It was the second concert in Colombia of the six that are scheduled in the country – the first was Thursday in Bucaramanga – within the tour Agenda 1999, which includes European destinations such as Paris, Dublin or Girona.
“Colombia is bullfight as it is musical, it is traditional, culture, work and freedom. That will not change, “adds the singer in his message.” I don’t know if fans [a las corridas de toros] They are a majority in Colombia but neither is literature majority and for the moment there are no books and the library is still open (…) Animals do not know how to do anything other than insult and desire bloody consequences for those who freely choose what to do with our time. ”
Calamaro argues that the prohibition of runs is anti -democratic. “Cali never voted or reference to close the square, this occurs with the complicity of the teenage ignorance of a minority and then they are political movements to weave alliances and add a majority,” he says. However, in Colombia the prohibition was the product of Congress after several years of public debate, and includes a transition period so that the places become artistic or entrepreneurship scenarios.
Although Cali is a city with a strong bullfighting tradition, in which the bullring used to be filled in the annual season that is done within the framework of the Cali Fair, the new generations have been unmarked from that culture. In fact, the main Colombian Pacific city was one of the places where the 2021 social outbreak was felt with more intensity, and also a key bastion of President Gustavo Petro’s victory in the 2022 elections, a leftist politician who has always spoken against bullfights.
During his statements in the concert, Calamaro – who is known for his defense of bullfighting and has made similar statements in other shows – held with his hand a red jacket, which was considered an allusion to the crutches of the bullfighters. His song Middle Veronica It also refers to one of the classic fuel bullfighting auctions. The singer, in addition, has always been critical of animalist movements. In a fragment of the text he published in his defense, he qualifies them as cowards, and points out that under the “liar mantle of piety” he “hides an unforgivable selfishness and a clear disdain for the rights of the humble. It is possible that the fans be a minority, but we are in an era where the rights and freedoms of minorities are respected.”
In another apart from the text, the musician equates the animalists with the Nazis: “It has been supporting the existence of bullfighting and I was never incredible in the street, or once. I am not a bullfighter or murderer or abuse animals but that as animals every day. Gastronomy is not perverse abuse, I warn if it is detachment of the Nazi Animalist to the citizens and not in favor of a fantasy and not in favor of a fantasy Walt Disney.
“Finally, I just regretted being in a bullring without bulls, and I am supportive with people who run out of work in the field and in the square,” he concludes. After the discomfort of the public, while the singer was out of the stage, the musicians continued to sing, in a strange coincidence, the choir of a song whose lyrics could be precisely related to bullfighting: “Flaca/Do not kept me/your daggers/your back/in the back/so deep/do not hurt me/do not do me badly.”
