“Do you want to go to this show? I'm selling an extra ticket,” said the message I received from an old friend, complete with a screenshot of the seats. I don't remember the exact price of the ticket, but it wasn't cheap. I looked at the headline in the screenshot and it was the names of – I can’t remember which ones, but three very famous old prog rock bands. I was completely stumped. Not only was I unaware of my friend's affinity for this type of music, but I was also confused as to why they were sending me this. Sure, I like going to concerts, but old prog rock? Of all things?
As soon as I woke up, things began to make sense. It was all a bad dream, but one that was probably triggered by a conversation I'd had the night before. I'd been talking to some friends after the Mabe Fratti show at the Hotel Cecil, and we all agreed that it had been a bit heavier than any of us had expected, and rather proggy. In addition to sparking a strange little dream, this characterization helped put Fratti's recent work into perspective and gave an indication of why I might have been much slower to get hooked on Sentir que no sabes than I was on 2022's Se Ve Desde Aquí. But let's start at the beginning.
Opening for Fratti on this leg of the tour was the duo Forgetting You Is Like Breathing Water. Their band name may sound emo, and the music could very well be classified under the half-serious and broadly defined label of “emo-ambient”, or ambient jazz, or as you like it. Made up of two best friends – Will Evans on trumpet and Theo Trump on guitar and effects – the duo specializes in lush, slow-burning soundscapes dripping with melancholy. The sound of their new self-titled debut album shines much brighter in a live setting, with the interplay of guitar and trumpet creating an intricate texture for the ethereal compositions. Using only red lighting throughout the entire show added to the eerie Silencio feel.
For her live band, Mabe Fratti was joined by I. la Católica and Gibrán Andrade. Sticking mostly to red lights, with flashes of white, yellow, and strobe lights during more dynamic outbursts towards the end, Fratti may have maintained the general mood, but her show was a completely different beast from the opening act. The trio wasted no time, immediately cranking it up “to eleven” and keeping up the pace until the end. What may have sounded raw and abrasive on record was in fact flawlessly executed, as the live show laid bare the meticulous nature of Fratti's compositions.
The combination of cello, guitar, and drums (with Evans joining the band for a few songs on trumpet) can apparently rock just as hard, if not harder, than traditional band lineups. I. la Católica's vocoder dialog with Fratti helped “Alarmas olvidadas” spiral into a full-blown prog rock track. Andrade, on the other hand, had fun with “Enfrente,” making the frenetic drum part sound almost like a d'n'b rhythm. The seated show was a great fit for a tired Sunday night, but if it weren't for the setup, we could have just as easily been head-banging crowded in the front rows, that's how exhilarating the performance was.
To give credit where credit is due, props to Hotel Cecil for the booking – arguably the most interesting of their fall season schedule – it was great to see Fratti and the gang in their prime. I still find it amazing that she has only been releasing music for a few years as her stage presence displays the confidence of a much more seasoned musician; relaxed but always in full control of the band.
A common thread in many reviews of Sentir que no sabes is a sense of awe at how Fratti manages to pull it all together... Incidentally, the greatest strength of her live show is not only that it breathes additional life into already dramatic compositions, but also that it unlocks some of the mystery of how they were put together.