My Invincible Friend: a flawless time machine

The Argentine band passed through Valencia to review their entire catalog and demonstrate why they are an inspiration to the Latin American indie scene.

Written by: Francisco Bernasconi       //        Photos: Ayeray Tenaglia

Every time I go to a concert by an Argentine or Latin American band in Valencia, I ask myself the same question: “What audience will go today?”. The doubt is really whether the Spanish public - and the Valencian public in particular - knows about emblematic and niche ensembles like this one, which has almost 20 years of history.

And it's that My Invincible Friend it's a very noticeable influence on many indie bands throughout Argentina, such as Show it to me. y Bandalos Chinos, to name a few that today enjoy a somewhat more “mainstream” status. And not only for their powerful sound but for their versatility in mixing rock with experimentation, catchy melodies, and transporting us with a deep sonic atmosphere.

The night began with the opening of 1915, a Buenos Aires band enjoying a great present after 10 years of trajectory and five studio albums. Minutes before 9 p.m., the quartet unfurled a wide array of rock songs with maximum distortion and attitude.

Headlining another band outside your country is no easy task, and the guys from 1915 they more than delivered, interpreting their repertoire – which is very well produced – in a more garage, dirtier, rawer key.

Thus went solid songs like “Green grass, summer breeze, Birds singing in the tall trees, Nature's sweet release.”, “Prisma”(one of the night's high points) and a much-celebrated cover of “Checks”from Luis Alberto Spinetta and The Desert Partners, which served to move and mobilize an audience that started shy and loosened up as song after song went by.

Halfway through the show, the band decided to go straight for the jugular with “Police”song that earned them popularity and placed them on stage, back in 2018, and that was the most celebrated by the audience.

As they were finishing their set, the phrase echoed in my head “I am out of place.”, who minutes before had been spoken by the frontman Cruz Hunkeler, And I thought that statement couldn't be more false: it's that 1915 had gotten off to a great start to the evening and proved to be exactly where they should be.

Minutes past 9:30 PM, the sextet already had My Invincible Friend taking the stage to the applause of over a hundred fans who were thrilled by “Black cat passes” followed by “The Dance of the Beginners”, from the self-titled 2015 album that was a watershed moment in her career.

Immediately after, they jumped to the “Dutsiland” era (2019) with a combo that still reverberates in my ears days later. The power with which they performed “Fossil”and“Gently Enthusiastic”It was one of the gems of the night: Two melancholic, deep songs with high doses of sensitivity that were reconfigured with a more rocky sound and a tighter tempo, shaking the bodies present that night at Sala Jerusalem.

In the middle there was also room for one of the evening's many musical surprises: a snippet of “Mandolin”of Gustavo Pena (aka The Prince) during the song “Blip Blip – No Me Hables”. Thus, the band bid farewell to the first segment of the show, characterized by retrospection, and made way for new compositions from both “Isla de Oro” (2022) and “Arco y Flecha” (2024), their latest work.

The song chosen to kick off this new phase was “Hills”, a track with pop sensibilities and an acoustic sound that came alive in its live version. The same happened with other similar compositions (“Caballos,” “Llamada Perdida,” “La Araña,” “Pantera”), which were revitalized by the power of distorted guitars and a solid rhythmic foundation.

Right there, we could see the strongest point of My Invincible FriendThe musical solidity they have on stage thanks to so many years together. The drum and percussion duoArturo Martin + Leonardo Gudiño, added to the precise and danceable bass of the ever-smiling Lucila Pivetta, formed the fundamental foundations for the guitar riffs of Nicolás Voloschin and the synths from Pablo Di Nardo they had free flight and that the singing and guitar of Mariano Di Cesare they would show off without difficulty.

It was precisely that sonic power that, in my opinion, elevated the strength of the songs on “Bow and Arrow,” a very polished album with a production leaning more towards pop and subtlety. Live, the compositions took on a fiercer character and invited more movement and ecstasy from the audience, who vibrated every moment with a performance faithful to the group's trajectory.

Half the show had already passed when Mariano announced jokingly that a “new song” was coming, which was none other than “Time Machine”the most listened-to release of his career, from that pivotal 2015 album. Without a doubt, that was one of the moments most celebrated by the audience, who dared to start a mosh pit that would be repeated at the end of the show.

Each song that went by made me strengthen my vision of My Invincible Friend as one of the cult bands of the Argentine indie scene and which, without a doubt, was an inspiration for many groups that are now in the spotlight. There's something in the lightness and apparent simplicity of the compositions and the depth/vulnerability of the lyrics that pair perfectly with a powerful and daring live performance.

And so, between one topic and another, we were able to enjoy interactions with the audience, a little dance in the style of Ian Curtis on the part of the frontman and brief but effective tributes to national rock - like a riff by Patricio Rey and The Ricota Misfits and the piano and voice version of “Flaca” by Andrés CalamaroThe night was slowly drawing to a close for the invincible friends, who were grateful and very happy for their current tour that brought them to Valencia for the second time. But there was still one last bullet in the chamber.

The concert ended with“Act of Faith”, a song that's impossible not to sing along to thanks to its viral chorus, and featured By Caesar jumping down from the stage directly into the heat of a joyful and excited mosh pit, in charge of an audience that appreciated the visit and the ritual of good music among friends.

 Setlist

  • Black cat passes
  • The Dance of the Beginners
  • Fossil
  • Don't talk to me
  • Gently Enthusiastic
  • Hills
  • Panther
  • Impeccable
  • Continental Breakfast
  • The spider
  • Horses
  • Far from Everything
  • Time Machine
  • Secret Garden
  • Missed Call
  • Sci-Fi Nights
  • Act of Faith

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