Charly García llegó a los 75 entre cánticos, recollections y Netflix

The first ones to arrive were the fans. Since Thursday night, a group settled at the corner of Santa Fe and Coronel Díaz to wait for midnight with songs and banners, turning the building of Charly García into a luminous and noisy tribute. When the clock struck, the musician appeared on the balcony of his apartment to greet them and thank them for the company. I think that gesture said a lot about this birthday: García did not only receive the celebration, he also went out to share it with the people who had waited for him.

The affection of those who shared the stage

Throughout Friday, the birthday continued to travel through social networks, where musicians who had accompanied García during decades of career left him messages. David Lebón, his partner in Serú Girán, was direct when he wrote: "Sos mucho más que un amigo, sos un hermano que me dio la vida y la música. Gracias por tantos momentos compartidos y, sobre todo, por convencerme de ir a Búzios. Te amo, hermano." Fito Páez shared several photographs together and added: "Feliz cumpleaños a una de las personas que más amo en este mundo. Sin él, no sé si hubiera descubierto todos los mundos que descubrí."

“60 años de amistad no pasan inadvertidos. Gracias.”Nito Mestre

Nito Mestre, a friend of García for six decades, summarized with a short phrase the weight of a shared history. The messages of colleagues and friends completed a celebration that was not limited to the balcony: it extended across the networks, with personal recollections and photographs that accompanied the musician on a very intimate anniversary.

Free shows in two emblematic venues

The city's agenda included three free nights with prior registration at the Usina del Arte. On Friday, Marina Wil went through the best-known songs of García's repertoire. Mery Granados and Joaco Burgos were in charge of the Saturday evening dedicated to his work, while the Sunday program was a family show starring Vanessa Alanís. The programming showed a city that wanted to celebrate the figure of the musician in a varied way, not only through the concert of a single night, but also with tributes, popular music and a spectacle designed for the whole family.

• Friday: Marina Wil led a repertoire dedicated to Charly García at the Usina del Arte.
• Saturday: Mery Granados and Joaco Burgos starred in the tribute night.
• Sunday: Vanessa Alanís was in charge of the family show.
• Friday: the Banda Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires performed a rock nacional concert at the Centro Cultural 25 de Mayo, with Luis Ceravolo and Ángela Navarro.

The Banda Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires also performed on Friday at the Centro Cultural 25 de Mayo, in a concert of rock nacional with the participation of Luis Ceravolo and Ángela Navarro. Like the shows at the Usina del Arte, the concert had free admission and prior reservation. The two spaces turned the anniversary into a program that linked the intimate memory of the fans with the public celebration of a musician who, over more than four decades, became part of the city's popular song.

The audiovisual announcement also had its own weight. Netflix confirmed the production of "Say No More", a documentary about García directed by Alejandro Hartmann and produced by Haddock Films. The release date was not informed, so the work is still a project without a confirmed date. García's reaction was concise: "Ahora sí, Charly por Charly. Bien, ¿no?" The title also sounds like a continuation of the artist's own playful way of presenting his career.

Among the data that framed the anniversary, the concert of 1986 in Plaza de Mayo was recalled, recorded for the NBC network. On that occasion, García appeared alongside Richard Coleman, Daniel Melingo, Andrés Calamaro, Christian Basso and Fernando Samalea. The memory places the birthday in the long arc of a career that has moved from the stage to the balcony, from the concert hall to the networks, and from the crowd that sings in the street to the documentary that will now tell his story.

At the exit of the celebrations, one fan said: "Ahora sí, Charly por Charly. Bien, ¿no?" The words could be heard as a happy continuation of the birthday, but also as a faithful description of the night: García was 75 years old, surrounded by music, memories and people who still wanted to thank him for the songs that accompanied them.