Libido at the Gran Teatro Nacional: the Peruvian band released a new record recorded live

“Acoustic Libido at the Gran Teatro Nacional” is the first volume that will be released by the national group of its presentation on one of the most important artistic stages in Peru. On the stage, Salim Vera and Manolo Hidalgo — two of the original members — dazzled the audience by performing their greatest hits in a show by first level in which they were accompanied by other guest artists.

“We believe it is our best live acoustic album because of its quality, repertoire and the work that involved its production. In addition, we feel that we have evolved as musicians, as a band, our sound is different and we take care of every detail so that everything is perfect,” said Hidalgo, who has been a guitarist and composer of the Peruvian band since it was formed in 1996.

For his part, the vocalist added that he fulfilled one of his greatest goals. “Presenting ourselves at the Grand Teatro Nacional was a personal and group achievement because of everything that playing in that place involved,” Vera confessed. There is no doubt that, this was an unparalleled achievement for the rock group that has been touring and releasing musical material (albums, singles and EPs) for more than two decades.

The record recorded live by Libido will be divided into two volumes of 10 songs each and the first of them, which is already available on digital platforms. The album contains songs from all stages of the band such as “Fragile”, “Bad time”, “Mabel”, “I am so gray”, “Tan suave”, “Esther fe”, “Female”, “Como estos”, “Your face” and “In this room”.

The group's acoustic presentation took place on February 29, 2019, with the participation of Hugo Ortiz (drums), Lucho Benzaquen (rhythm guitar), Juan Pablo del Águila (bass), Bea Mar (choirs), Henry Ueunten (keyboards), Gerardo Lama (percussion) and a string quartet led by Renzo Ángeles Small. It consists of one of the biggest concerts they gave before the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially stopped artistic shows and tours nationwide by musicians from Peru and other parts of the world.

Libido, one of the exponents of Peruvian rock

In the mid-nineties, Libido was born under the original lineup of Salim Vera (rhythm guitar, vocalist), Manolo Hidalgo (lead guitar or first guitar), Toño Jáuregui (bass guitar, vocals) and Jeffry Fischman (drums). At the beginning, the association of these musicians was greatly influenced by the grunge genre that was booming at that time, but over the years, they have been experimenting in different musical aspects without departing from the main vein that characterizes them, rock.

From 1998 to the present, they released the studio albums Libido, Female, Pop*Porn, Last I Talked Yesterday, A New Day, A New Day in London, Oddities, among others. They were internationally recognized by the MTV awards, platinum and gold records, and have played in various parts of the country. They have also participated in major festivals such as Acustirock, Vivo x el Rock Festival, Villa Salva Rock and more shows dedicated to the rock genre.

In recent years, Salim Vera has tried to meet with the original members of Libido. “In fact, none of us, nor Jeffrey, nor Manolo, nor I are closed to in the future to make a reunion with Toño, like the originals. We are not closed at all, however, all we are asking here is that it be handled by a third party that we do not have any interference”, said the singer during an interview with Radio Oxygeno in mid-2020. For now, that reunion has not yet materialized.

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