Point and beginning: Goodbye to Mobofest

MobofestAnother Mobo chronicler commented on Friday at certain early morning hours about the fear of falling into mass clichés to explain this farewell. Frankly, I would never write (and the other chronicler wouldn't either, I'd say) that "you don't know what you have until you lose it." It is ungrateful and unconscious. And we are not like that: we knew what we were losing in 2013 when Antònia Font announced a retirement; we know that, after Mobo, there will be a void for alternative music, that a space for closeness and recognition (identification?) will be missing; we know what we will lose if we continue living on mass tourism, wild and bare with everyday life, and since we know it, this Sunday afternoon we will be in Palma at the demonstration against tourist overcrowding, in favor of a dignified life.

But we are at Mobo. Saturday. We went through the joy, sadness, and nostalgia of the opening day of the last Mobo (Thursday), we lived a damp Friday of reunions and, without wanting to, we found ourselves at an afternoon full of endings, contradictory emotions, a certain weariness (for those who hadn't missed a single day, for the organization) and also a certain sense of glory. We had already understood that la Mobo was ending (and they reminded us of this with practically all the merchandise, from the cups to the bracelets). All that was left was to enjoy it to remember it.

The boleros and jotas of Nastallat kicked off the last musical day. Mar Grimalt (one of the great artists we've seen grow in recent years and whom we'll keep an eye on) and Carles Medina, always surprising, in sync, and complicit, gave the audience goosebumps in the early afternoon.

Amulet opened the main stage, dazzling the sun with their pale skin and straw-colored hair. They were accompanied by a band formed by guitarist Pere Joan Company, bassist Miquel Bennàssar, and drummer and percussionist Francesc Aparicio (all former members of Xarxa, a group that said goodbye to the stage at Mobo 2024). Happy to be on stage, Toni Amulet presented Es desastre (Cucavela Records), an album that arrived a few months ago, three years after the previous one, Petit viking (2023). Artist Xisk came up to sing one of the most celebrated songs from Amulet's latest album: 'In paradise'. And yes: they are also waiting for us today at the demonstration against overtourism (at 7 p.m. in Plaça d'Espanya, Palma).

Change of stage. Roig! plays, a band from Manacor that doesn't do big tours, but occasionally gifts its followers an occasional live performance. They've been playing together since 2010, "that's why they sound so good," they commented among the audience. And those who know them know that Roig! is a favorite of the Mobofest organizers.

Ànimos Parrec is one of those other groups that we saw born at the Mobo at their 2023 debut concert. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that we saw them born 'thanks' to the Mobo; Julià Picornell told it in this report from ARA Balears: “Without the Mobo we wouldn’t exist, and that’s no exaggeration”. Three years after their debut and with three albums under their belt, the band from Pla de Mallorca has a loyal and consolidated audience that enjoys the committed and ironic imaginary they propose from an uninhibited rock and roll.

The clock marked 11:45 PM when Reggeatonpare began to play, another band that, a few weeks earlier, had announced they were leaving the stage; if there's no news, yesterday was their last concert, not without first making the audience that came to bid them farewell shout, jump and sing, with a surprise: their colleagues from Ritual Nepal, who played in Consolació on Thursday, came up to sing with Reggeatonpare on the night of their farewell.

People began to gather at the main stage so as not to miss the concert that turned into a tribute to Antònia Font following the painful loss of Joan Roca, the band's bassist. With the audience's affection embracing them, the four musicians played six songs to honor their departed friend. 'Alegria', 'Dins aquest iglú', 'Alpinistes-Samurais', 'Tots es motors', 'Batiscafo Katiuscas' - with the special collaboration of the Palma choir Sa Corrala - and 'Wa yeah' conveyed this tribute-farewell concert full of contrasts, chiaroscuros and contradictory emotions.

Only the Catalan group Dan Peralbo i el Comboi remained to take the stage, offering the last concert in the history of the Mobofest. So, between their songs, they brought all the Mobo organizers onto the stage. Mariona Jaume, the festival's last director, gave a few words of thanks to her colleagues, the audience, and the bands. With everyone on stage, the Catalan group covered 'Aixopluc', by Da Souza, a kind of anthem for the organizers who have spent ten years of winter Sundays sending emails to managers, justifying grants, designing posters, mugs… and who deserve a standing ovation for having lasted this long. And that's all, we've arrived. We close a chapter, we close a decade, we renew our energies, we close a door, and it will be time to open all the windows.

These ten years we have seen the temperature rise considerably and terrifyingly, we have passed competitive exams, we have had children, we have fallen in love, we have separated and we have gotten married. We have loved each other and become strangers again, we have lived through a pandemic and we have seen the group Manel leave the stage and then Da Souza, and also Xarxa; luckily, we have seen Maria Jaume, Mar Grimalt, Maria Hein, Júlia Colom grow. We have become cyclists, runners and we go to functional training; we have stopped smoking (some), we have returned home after the race and we have moved, like Mobo, which has passed through Sant Joan, Lloret and Porreres. We have gone from hosting 13 million tourists to supporting 19 million (and wait!). The PP has won the elections and Vox has taken the Government. We have slimmed down our complexes, we have converted vans into campers and we have seen many concerts by Ànimos Parrec and, luckily, also some by Antònia Font. We have changed jobs, we have become self-employed. We have existed in contrast, because the discouragement of profit exists. As happens in the best families, we have fallen in love with Mobo, we have gotten bored, we have become excited again. We have been fixed-term discontinuous employees (it must be a cultural thing!) and we have returned despite having said "this year, no" at some point. At Mobo we have gotten our knees dirty. And from Mobo we will keep a memory that will last for years. Thanks. Goodbye. Until always. Good luck.