Barcelona (AFP)

A rock group, 5,000 spectators dancing without a safe distance.

A Barcelona venue took a trip to a pre-pandemic world on Saturday for a clinical experiment aimed at showing that concerts are possible despite the Covid.

"I am very, very moved. It's been a year and a half since we went on stage", proclaimed Santi Balmes, the singer of Love of Lesbian, flagship group of the Spanish independent scene, after a very apt first title. titled "No one in the streets".

A euphoria shared by spectators jumping, dancing, singing at the top of their lungs and even having a beer at the counter, as if the pandemic had disappeared for an evening.

"It's incredible, a lot of emotion. We had forgotten the feeling of a crowd, it's like it was my first concert," said Jordi Sanz in the pit of the Palau Sant Jordi.

"We wanted so much to do something different, to take a step towards normality," said Marina Crespo, 25, who preferred, however, "to keep the distance" with the other spectators.

- Tests and masks -

Organized by a group of festivals, music promoters and a local hospital, this experience is one of the few to have taken place in Europe in contemporary music.

Another test concert took place in early March in the Netherlands with 1,300 people

And nothing has been left to chance: tests, FFP2 masks at all times and reinforced ventilation.

On Saturday morning, the dance floors of three Barcelona nightclubs, closed due to the pandemic, were transformed into field hospitals where white coats tested all participants for antigen.

Like a sesame, the negative result automatically validated the ticket stored in the mobile phone.

"We hope that it will be completely safe. For 14 days, we will watch which of the spectators will have caught the Covid and we will notify" the cases, explained Josep Maria Llibre, doctor of the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital in Badalone, near Barcelona. .

Already in December, his team had organized a pilot project in a hall in Barcelona with 500 spectators previously tested.

A few days later, none had contracted the virus.

- Light at the end of the tunnel-

The objective of this clinical experience is "to find out how we can live with the Covid and organize concerts in a completely safe way," Ventura Barba, executive director of the Barcelona Sónar festival, one of the organizers told AFP. .

"We hope this will be an inflection point," he added.

This week, this renowned electronic music festival announced its cancellation for the second year in a row, like many others in Europe.

“The pandemic has been horrible for everyone, but for music in particular,” Ventura Barba said.

According to a report published by the Federation Música de España, which represents the sector in Spain, the European music industry lost 76% of its turnover in 2020.

"It's a way to put a hole in that tunnel and let the cultural world see a little light, or at least, a possible way of doing things," said Santi Balmes, singer of Love of Lesbian. , in an interview with AFP.

The pandemic has forced his group to delay the launch of their new record for eight months, but he feels lucky compared to others "who are really badly and are receiving food aid because they are not earning anything."

This concert "was an energy shock," he said, "but it makes sense because we are in a time of restraint, with the handbrake pulled. We need to let off steam, to resume our lives. before ".

© 2021 AFP