Photos: Sergio Betancort
The Canarian popular music group Los Gofiones took to the stage in Mancha Blanca last Wednesday night on the occasion of the festivities in honor of Our Lady of Los Dolores. At 9:00 p.m., under the musical direction of Víctor Batista, the group from Gran Canaria reviewed some of the compositions they have recorded on their albums, which now number 21.
The concert started off very well with the song Malagueña de Sal Retama y Llano to warm up and put a face to the cool breeze that enveloped the night. Victor Batista, a man seasoned in these struggles, and with the complicity of his colleagues, managed to get the public to warm up as well, and in many of the songs they performed, such as Mi Casita de Papel, Tenderete, La Bikina or Son de la Loma, etc., they joined their voices or clapped.
Los Gofiones, in these 50 years since their formation, have taken their songs throughout the Canary Islands, the Peninsula and in Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Chile, Argentina or Uruguay, from which they have also made some of their musical genres their own. The concert also kept very much in mind the devastating fire that devastated Gran Canaria, the island from which Los Gofiones come, choosing one of the many popular compositions written by Néstor Álamo "Sombras del Nublo", to which the public responded with a resounding ovation.
In their half century of life, many members have passed through the group, which have made it possible for the formation to continue today, such as Sergio García Beltrán, the only existing founder still. Victor Batista also kept very much in mind all those colleagues who have left the formation but have left their mark and especially for those who "are no longer physically among us" dedicating the song "A guy like me".
Los Gofiones, as every time they go on stage, give everything to please the public that follows them wherever they go, taking great care of their staging with voices that infect in each of their songs. With the sounds of a potpourri of Canarian choruses they put the finishing touch to the concert.
