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Mikel Erentxun in concert
Posted on Fri, Apr 2 1999
by David T. <[email protected]>
From VivaHate74:

On March 31st, 1999; Mikel Erentxun, ex-member of the Spanish group Duncan Dhu, played in Anaheim, CA at the JC Fandango night club. Mikel is a well known Spanish Rock artist who has been making great music since the early 1980's. After leaving the group Duncan Dhu, Mikel embarked a solo career and since then has recorded three albums. His first solo album was released back in 1994. In it to the surprise of many people he recorded the Spanish version of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" or "Esta Luz Nunca Se Apagara".

However, it wasn't until couple of years later after its release that the famous Spanish Rock radio station 97.5 (La super estrella) here in California began to play the song. At the same time many Spanish Rock night clubs began to play the song as part of their club mixes. Well a correlation that I must point out here is that in recent years we have since an increase of Morrissey fans in the Spanish speaking community (I don't want to use the words Latino/a or Hispanic so broadly). So we see that Mikel began to be adored by many Morrissey fans to the extent that many referred to him as the Spanish Morrissey. It was obvious that Mikel was a big Morrissey fan, but it became more evident when he released his third solo album at the end of 1998 where he recorded the Spanish version to "Everyday Is Like Sunday" or "Todo Es Igual Siempre (Everyday is like Sunday)"…

Now going back to the night of March 31st. For those who are into Spanish Rock, the opening band was called Volumen Cero. Mikel came out at about 11:00 pm and began to sing a couple of songs from his latest album. His third number was an old famous song by his group Duncan Dhu, "A Tientas De Ti". The next song and to my surprise was "Todo Es Igual Siempre (Everyday is like Sunday)". It was obvious by the loud screams that there were many Morrissey fans present in the concert. You could hear people loudly singing along with Mikel and specially during the chorus the singing became louder.

People were swaying from side to side as if they were thanking Mikel for singing that song. However, no one made an attempt to scream Morrissey's name, well that came later. The concert went on with Mikel singing more songs from the new album and more of his early songs, such as "A Un Minuto Be Ti".

The concert went on for about an hour and it seemed obvious that Mikel was ready to sing the last song for the night. Well as that old saying goes, he saved the best for last. Moving away from his usual introduction of his songs, playing the guitar while singing and remaining close to the microphone, Mikel seemed to prepare himself for something special. Well he was, because as soon as the first notes of "Esta Luz Nunca Se Apagara", he grabbed the microphone on one hand and began to move abruptly from side to side. The public became highly excited. They began to jump to all sides. The screams we extremely loud and seemed to make Mikel get into the song even more. After the first verse, it was evident that Mikel was willing to accept the demand of the public and began to rip his shirt open. The intensity of the public was reaching a higher level and for the remaining of the song they gave themselves to believe that it was Morrissey on stage. Mikel himself seemed to be very excited to the point that he ripped his shirt apart and let it fall to the ground. It seemed that everybody knew the lyrics and gladly sang it along. The song came to an end but not before Mikel had the public chant 'Esta luz nunca se apagara' for about 15 times. To my surprise there were some who were screaming 'There is a light that never goes out" and even other chanted Viva Morrissey… Mikel came back for an encore but he had exhausted his public and ended the concert with another old song by Duncan Dhu, "En Algun Lugar"…


Comments / Notes



If anyone is interested, and is currently (like right now) in the San Diego are, Mikel will be signing autographs at Ritmo Latino in San Ysidro, on San Ysidro Blvd. From 1-3p.m. Just in case anyone wanted to meet him, i just heard it on the radio, and wanted to let you people know.
mozmiths <[email protected]> (spider-wk054.proxy.aol.com)
san diego - Sat, Apr 03, 1999 at 10:39:43 (PST)



correction: not Ritmo Latino but Tu Musica
mozmiths <[email protected]> (spider-wa034.proxy.aol.com)
san diego - Sat, Apr 03, 1999 at 13:06:48 (PST)



At the signing I was surprised to find quite a few Morrissey/Smiths fans in line. Mikel signed my Smiths singles cd ( I gave him the honor because I think he captures The Smiths 'There Is A Light...." so well) . He seemed so pleased to see it. And he looked up and just smiled. Later, I was listening to the radio, and he was being interviewed. He was asked who he listened to, to which he answered, Morrissey and The Smiths. And named other bands as Radiohead & R.E.M. Today was a good day.
mozmiths <[email protected]> (spider-ta033.proxy.aol.com)
san diego - Sat, Apr 03, 1999 at 19:29:31 (PST)



I think that we should not exaggerate the talent of Mr. Erentxun. Well, he did really nice songs in the 80´s, and their albums are correct, but his talent is far to be as magic as the Moz/Smiths one. And in Spain he´s more known now for being the guy who discovered the know famous band "La oreja de Van Gogh" (The ear of Van Gogh), an awful bunch of people who thinks that their songs have, erm, "literature". And he doesn´t pay attention to the spanish independent bands.
Jordiet <[email protected]> (abonado-195-53-37-181.cat.es)
Barcelona - Mon, Apr 05, 1999 at 05:42:16 (PDT)



Writing from Spain. Any comparison between Mkel and Morrissey is beyond me. Mikel is known in Spain as a singer just for teenage girls. That's all. He doesn't mean a thing to people. He writes simple love songs for young girls. His There's A Light avoids any reference to a twosome suicide and his Everyday Is Like Sunday has very little to do with the original one.
benji (ig-154.arrakis.es)
Spain - Mon, Apr 05, 1999 at 05:43:29 (PDT)



I meant his solo albums are correct.. And I was talking about the "now famous band", not "know". "En algun lugar" is, by far, his best song.
Jordiet <[email protected]> (abonado-195-53-37-181.cat.es)
Barcelona - Mon, Apr 05, 1999 at 05:47:07 (PDT)



THERE IS A FEW THINGS THAT I WANNA SAY TO THE AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE, FIRST THE RADIO STATION 97.5 IS NOT A SPANISH ROCK STATION. SECOND I DONT THINK THAT MIKEL IS THE SPANISH MORRISSEY. HIS MUSIC SOUNDS LIKE EVERY DAY IS LIKE SUNDAY, AND THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT. HIS MUSIC IS NOT SPANISH ROCK IT IS SPANISH POP. DONT GET ME WRONG I LIKE HIS MUSIC BUT HE DOESNT COMPARE AND WILL NEVER BE THE SPANISH MORRISSEY. AND IT IS TRUE HE SINGS FOR THE TEENAGE GIRLS. I DONT THINK HE IS ANYTHING LIKE MORRISSEY, I BET HE EATS MEAT.
OZZIE <OZ343> (stn-74.csusb.edu)
SOUTHERN CALI - Mon, Apr 05, 1999 at 10:23:13 (PDT)



I, personally, would not dare compare Morrissey to Mikel, lyrically. But on the other hand, the songs, I think, do capture some of the essence of the originals. I know, they are not good as the original works, but they are a pleasure to listen to even still.
mozmiths <[email protected]> (204.216.200.38)
- Mon, Apr 05, 1999 at 14:48:35 (PDT)



First of all, I want to thank all those who took the time to read my "Mikel Erentxu in concert" article. I always welcome comments and opinions that you might have. I want to go on say that the article consisted on the observations made by me during the events of the night, and that night alone. I did not in any instance made any references to my own opinions as to how I compare Mikel Erentxu to Morrissey. If that was the case, yes i agree with many of you that there is really no comparison with the both of them. Or i should strengthen my statement by saying that there is no comparison at all. However, the events of the concert on March 31st, showed that if people can't have the real 'thing' then they will be content with whoever simulates their idol. Mikel or any other artist for that matter does only what people want them to do. And in that case MIkel realized that there were many Morrissey fans in the public and well he just wanted to please them...If you have seen groups such as The Sweet and Tender Hooligans would agree that they do the same thing....well thanks again and more comments are always welcome...
vibahate <[email protected]> (spider-tm053.proxy.aol.com)
- Mon, Apr 05, 1999 at 17:02:55 (PDT)



i have a few things to say. first of all i like Mikel`s music. but i would never dare compare him to MORRISSEY. i went to the show he did in Rosarito. i live in chula vista, ca. so it wasnt that far away.
personally i enjoyed the concert but was very disturbed by the fact that he did not even make mention to morrissey not once during the show.
he sang the morrissey songs but made them seem as if they were his own. that really ticked me off.
so after the show i got to meet him and told him how much i love and respect Mr. Morrissey and he agreed with me that Morrissey is the best.
i cant say Mikel sucked because he didnt its just that if he going to sing the Moz songs and bust the Morrissey moves he should at least give him credit on stage.

erica <[email protected]> (205.230.22.95)
- Tue, Apr 06, 1999 at 11:42:35 (PDT)



I agree with those of you who think there's no comparison between Morrissey and Mikel. However, I do believe some of you should get to know a little bit more about Mikel's music throughout his carreer before making such harsh judgements.
Adolfo (148.245.36.142)
Mexico City - Mon, Apr 12, 1999 at 13:24:04 (PDT)



Creo que Mikel Erentxun es un chanta.....
...si se las pudiera solo, bastaría un acorde en sus letras....

Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (200.28.109.163)
- Tue, May 04, 1999 at 09:34:55 (PDT)





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