Julio Iglesias - Hard Rock Live, Hollywood - September 21

Julio Iglesias Hard Rock Live September 21, 2012 Better than: Now that I've seen both live, I can honestly say that comparing him to Rafael is just plain crazy. It's easy to forget and confuse Julio Iglesias the man, with Julio Iglesias the myth. He's revered by both the Spanish-speaking world and those that...

By Abel Folgar

September 24, 2012

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Julio Iglesias

Hard Rock Live

September 21, 2012

Better than: Now that I've seen both live, I can honestly say that comparing him to Rafael is just plain crazy.

It's easy to forget and confuse Julio Iglesias the man, with Julio Iglesias the myth. He's revered by both the Spanish-speaking world and those that speak the handful of other languages in which he sings. It would be easy to assume that global adoration has skewed his senses. It would be easy, but it wouldn't be true.

Julio Iglesias is a swell dude. Comfortable, at ease on stage, blessed with an eternal tan and some of the whitest pearlies you'll ever see, Julio Iglesias exudes a defiant masculinity tempered by a boyish charm you can bet lives for pranking and generating smiles.

There might be some who say that his vocal range is not the same as it was twenty years ago, but Julio knows his craft well enough to adapt. There was nice flow of songs throughout the concert that maintained integrity with his catalogue as well as newer songs that might not be as beloved as the classics, but that worked very well in creating an emotional ride through song.

He had a couple of covers that he threw in for good measure and surely for the English-speaking public, Patsy Cline's "Crazy" always sounds good with that accent as does George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord."

While his shows might not be known for theatrics or overtly physical showings, Julio's entourage featured some lively backup singers and a tango dancing couple that broke nicely the pace of a traditional crooner's shtick.

He was affable and courteous with the audience, keeping the mood light and jovial.

Perhaps the biggest crowd reaction came when he broke into "Me Va, Me Va" off his 1984 album, 1100 Bel Air Place, but he certainly got the biggest chuckle out of me when he made a Fellini reference about his life. You can count on this guy to deliver the human goods.

Even if he seems to embody mythical proportions.

Critic's Notebook

Personal bias: There was an annoying hiss coming from the sound system that was unfortunately too loud to ignore during the softer parts of songs and most certainly when Julio spoke to the audience. Maybe they fixed that for the Saturday performance?

The crowd: As usual, the Hard Rock gets kudos for turning concerts into what should be UN summits as far as crowd diversity is concerned. My neighbors were a nice couple from Haiti and all age groups were properly represented. It's almost like they randomly mail tickets out using the Yellow Pages and a dart system.

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