Well, here's some of what happened that day, June 12, 2004, the first Badía en Concierto show. It was Juan's return to TV with a music program, so we spent almost two months preparing for it.
The format Juan had envisioned was a two-hour program with a central figure, three supporting figures (one from folklore and the other from tango), and a rising star or group. They would all share a circular living room, have a surprise moment, and then take the stage.
For the first program, Juan wanted to hit the ground running, so after ruling out Fito, we targeted Charly. With the approval of Fernando Seresesky, Monitor, and García himself, we decided to put together a program featuring personalities with whom Charly had a certain affinity.
The rest of the stars were David Lebón (who had to be brought in by taxi from Mendoza due to his fear of flying), Negro Rubén Juárez, Liliana Herrero, and Leticia Bredice. Before the match, Charly made a condition of a limousine and a guitar.
I won't tell you how hard it was to convince Cacho from Daiam to give us a crappy viola to destroy. The limo driven by Edgar from Grupo Volcán arrived punctually at the Alcorta garage, and it was my mission to escort the guest to his dressing room.
According to the routine we created, Charly was supposed to participate in the opening act with the rest of the guests and be the first to inaugurate the stage. Although his entire band, the Chileans, and the Di Salvo brothers were there, Charly asked us to start with the grand piano.
The program was scheduled to start at 7:00 PM. Five minutes before the broadcast, there were more than 400 people in the stands, journalists, and channel executives present in the studio. The host and all the guests were also there... except one. García had barricaded himself in the dressing room.
A producer from the team stood guard at the dressing room door and after several requests, García finally opened the door, not to leave but to give an order: -Sheets, I need white sheets!
Desperate, another colleague ran off to the Vestuario, but at that time on Saturday the warehouse was closed and there was no one to open it. Where could we get a white sheet at that time in the canal?
At 6:59 p.m., the Channel 7 logo gives way to the program's opening keynote: "Music that fills your life..." Studio 1 explodes with applause as the show begins. Meanwhile, a makeup artist brings what might be a solution: a white hairdresser's blanket.
Before the producer could open the door with the life-saving blanket, Charly escaped from the dressing room, entered the studio, and joined the line of guests already parading alongside Juan in front of the cameras. No one noticed, but Charly entered the studio while the show was on air.
During the first segment, he shared the living room with the rest of the guests who hadn't even been able to greet him. He cracked a couple of jokes, and when the time came, Juan invited him to inaugurate the concert stage.
He escorts him to the requested grand piano, where Charly examines it. He says, "Very nice, huh. Play a key, pin." "It's already inaugurated!" Badía understands the joke, plays García's game, and requests the first cut of the program.
During the set, Charly locks himself in the dressing room where the hairdresser's blanket awaits him. He will remain locked there for the rest of the show without sharing anything with the other guests. According to our routine, Charly was supposed to close by playing four songs in the final segment.
The show went smoothly until the final segment. García's band was complete on stage; they had only soundchecked an hour before the show. We came on air. Juan settled into the center of the set, thanked the audience, and celebrated his return.
García remains in the dressing room. Badía begins to introduce him, takes off his jacket, takes a moment, kneels, and shouts completely devotedly: Charly García! The band begins to play.
The intro drags on until a thin, white figure walks through Studio 1 from one of the side entrances to stand in front of the keyboards. It was Charlie Bin Laden, who shouts, "Be afraid, be very afraid," and begins to play a keyboard that doesn't work.
One of the stage performers plugs in the keyboard, and Charly, wrapped in his white hairdressing blanket, kicks off with "Dileando con un alma." He'll continue with "Desarma y sangra" (the one he should have played on the piano) and then "Rock & Roll Yo." By the time he finished this song, it was 9 p.m., closing time.
In complete control of time and space, García looks at Badía and gestures to him and asks if he could do one more. Exhausted, Juan says yes, Charly replies, "Okay," and to everyone's surprise, he starts talking to Loco, "You don't have a spare change."
It's a song that Serú recorded on a Billy Bond album and that they only played live. In the opening bars, Charly signaled to David to join in. What guitar was available for El Ruso? The guitar that Daiam gave us for Charly to break.
El Ruso got on stage and ripped it up as if they'd been rehearsing. Charly knocked over his keyboards at the end, but didn't break anything. They all ended up singing tangos together in Juan's dressing room to the beat of Juárez's white bandoneon. I recently ran into Bredice, and she remembered everything exactly as it was.
*Some notes because memory can fail: The Di Salvos were no longer in the string lineup, but rather other session musicians. The viola given to Lebon may not be the one we returned to Daiam in perfect condition. I remember a more crappy model.
**It wasn't the era of smartphones, but someone got involved with a digital camera and captured some of it all. At the beginning, you see Charly leaving the dressing room for the last segment. At 3:02, I pass by, returning from paying for the limo.
***Charly wouldn't have been there without the collaboration of @marchisergio