After breaking up 11 years ago, Heroes del Silencio gave an explosive nearly three-hour-long concert on Friday to thousands of fans in the only date scheduled for the U.S. in a world reunion tour of five countries. It was filled with fire, confetti and, of course, fans in the U.S. who thought the legendary rock band from Spain would never again grace them with its presence.
Fans lined up at the crack of dawn outside the walls of the Home Depot Center in Carson, anxiously waiting the experience they would have some 13 hours later.
Fans traveled from places like Miami and Alabama to see the show. Some fans even traveled from other countries, including Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina and Spain.
Because the stage was made up of a large main stage, a runway and a smaller stage in the middle of the venue, some fans who chose to kill time decided to start a war between the two groups of fans that were separated by the walkway and the acoustic stage. Even though the show was supposed to start at 7 p.m., it ended up starting about an hour-and-a-half later.
They threw bottles of beer at each other, started fighting and claiming their country was more of a fan of the band, and forgot what united them that night with the other thousands of fans scurrying to their places: Heroes del Silencio.
For many fans, a reunion of this band seemed impossible. Most had come to accept that whatever personal squabbles made the band break up 11 years ago were never going to heal, and they would never see the group perform again. Despite the fact that there have been many tribute groups in Los Angeles for Heroes, including Hechizo and the popular Heroes de Leyenda, fans were never really satisfied.
“It was eminent that we were left with this Heroes hunger,” Arturo Peraza said. “We had been waiting for this for a long time.” Peraza saw Heroes perform before the break-up and is also the bassist for Heroes de Leyenda.
As soon as the “time-killing” music was turned off, the lights went out and the three giant screens displaying the band’s famous interwoven “H” and “S” symbol were pulled up to uncover the stage, fans roared.
In the sea of Heroes paraphernalia and fans chanting “Heroes,” a wave of silence came over the crowd for a moment as the intro started, which was the female voice from the dream pop band This Mortal Coil singing “Song to the Siren,” a melancholic-yet-spiritual song that made some cry. Immediately afterward, lead singer Enrique Bunbury’s shadow was displayed on a white screen as the intro of “El Estanque” played.
Visually, the show was very captivating. The stage was very high and wide. The smoke-and-lights display illuminated the Home Depot Center. Heroes used to be simple when it came to performance and venue choice, but now that the band had such a pop influence, it was like seeing Madonna or U2 perform, Peraza said.
Despite the fact that many fans waited for hours and ran to get the best spots, the crowd got so wild that people were being pulled out of the pit by security. Some people fainted and were rushed to paramedics.
About five songs later, the group proceeded to the smaller acoustic stage. Lead guitarist Juan Valdivia, second guitarist Gonzalo Valdivia and bassist Joaquin Cardiel relaxed on stools. Gonzalo was not originally a member of Heroes del Silencio but played on this reunion tour to help his brother Juan with the guitar arrangements during the songs.
During “La Chispa Adecuada,” Enrique asked the crowd to help illuminate the stadium with light probably thinking fans would use lighters, only to receive an ocean of cell phone screens in reply.
On some songs, Gonzalo and Juan played the same solo but on different scales, which was never done before. Originally, Mexican-born Alan Boguslavky was the one who helped play second guitar when the group was still together. Despite rumors by fans that one of the reasons Gonzalo was on tour with them was to do Juan’s guitar solos, he proved them wrong and did them all.
After a couple of mistakes on the guitar and drums, the band returned to the main stage for the concluding portion of the show to play popular hits such as “Entre Dos Tierras” and “Maldito Duende.” Heroes turned it up another notch with energy-filled songs like “Iberia Sumergida” and the fan favorite “Avalancha,” which included explosions of fire from the stage that looked like giant torches as they warmed the faces of those in the front row.
Bunbury, who has been physically compared many times to Jim Morrison in the past, teased fans by asking them if they’d rather go to work or study. At one point, a fan managed to jump on stage. He ran past Enrique and the other band members, miraculously dodging security until he reached the side of the stage where he was cuffed and dragged out.
After two encores, the amount of people being pulled out of the crowd started to grow. In the midst of the chaos, Heroes Del Silencio played their last song, “En Los Brazos de la Fiebre,” which seemed to calm the crowd.
As the dream thousands of fans had waited to experience for a year ended, Bunbury kneeled in the center of the stage and bid farewell to the ocean of fans begging for more. An explosion of confetti came from above and showered satisfied fans as they saw their Heroes disappear beyond the smoke.
