The brilliance of Teenage Fanclub against the flashes of James at the Botanical Nights

Shortly after the first chords of 'Home' were heard and Raymond McGinley began to sing that particular portrait of emotional isolation that is 'Tired Of Being Alone', with the sun still beating down on the Real Jardín Botánico Alfonso XIII in Madrid, a group of veteran fans debated who should have been the main band of the day: "It's a crime that they chose Teenage Fanclub as the opening act!" commented one of them, before singing the classic 'About You' with the band at the top of their lungs.

We're guessing Liam Gallagher must have had it clear: "Teenage Fanclub is the second best band in the world," he said in 1997. The admiration the sarcastic singer felt for the group that opened the Noches del Botánico on Wednesday was such that, that same year, he invited them to his studio to listen to the first version of 'Be Here Now' (Creation), Oasis' third album. The now-reconciled brothers needed his approval before releasing it, as they admitted.

However, we already know that influence doesn't fill venues, as we were able to confirm once again yesterday. When the Glaswegian band took the stage at 8:15 p.m., the dance floor was packed with gray-haired fans wearing old Smiths , Stones Roses, and Elliot Smith T-shirts, but the stands were half-empty. It must be that internet streams, that new yardstick for everything in music, don't lie either: close to 200,000 a month for Teenage Fanclub and 2.8 million for James.

In terms of numbers, therefore, there was no battle to be fought between these two groups who, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, paved the way for a successful—and much more profitable—path shortly afterward followed by Gallagher, Damon Albarn, and company. As usual, the sound technician didn't make things easy either, taking almost a third of the performance to find the volume Teenage Fanclub deserved to bring out those infectious melodies that once influenced Nirvana and Radiohead. But then "Alcoholiday" came on... and everything changed.

With the sun setting over the horizon and Norman Blake smiling non-stop as the band belted out classic after classic, sometimes even laughing out loud, as if thinking, "Fuck, how cool is it that we get to keep doing this!"—a close fan's interpretation—Teenage Fanclub spread their enthusiasm to an audience that was increasingly eager to sing along. With the venue almost full, they played 'Metal Baby', 'What You Do To Me', 'I Don't Want Control Of You', 'It's A Bad World', and 'The Concept', which the audience sang along to time and again with shouts of "Ooooooooh, yeeeeah!" Until the Glaswegian band put the finishing touch, as usual, with the guitar riffs of 'Everything Flows' and that ode to the passage of time and the loss of certainties. Thirty-five years later, everything remains the same.

With the Royal Botanic Gardens packed to the rafters and the sound already perfectly tuned for the day's highlight—as is the reprehensible custom of some events—James took the stage with a first splash that took everyone by surprise. Trumpeter Andy Diagram appeared playing his trumpet in the stands, accompanied by Tim Booth and Chloe Alper, who performed the opening lines of a more sedate version of "Lose Control" among the audience. It was the first fireworks launched by this Manchester band, born to play stadiums, although they never quite achieved that feat.

James played his heart out from the opening songs, with "Way Over Your Head," "5-0," and "Sound." On the latter, the goatee singer strolled along the front-row railing, winning over the audience, taking a fan's hat and putting it on himself while singing, "Laugh at the wonder of it all / Laugh so hard you break your fall." He then introduced "Heads," that merciless critique of fake news and "everything that's happening in America right now," the frontman announced to applause.

There's an overdose of epic in James, an emotional excess that's not always easy to maintain attention over. Music that seems made for much larger venues and that corresponds to a band that, in the early 90s, before Oasis took over, was poised to be "the next big thing." A band that, with Booth at the helm as a frontman capable of handling large audiences, as demonstrated yesterday with the 4,000 attendees who sold out the show in April, was vying to become the new U2 and, it's true, was close to achieving it.

With two drummers and nine musicians on stage, the Manchester band barely offered a brief respite with the slowed-down "Shadow Of A Giant." It lasted just four minutes before they began a new ascent to the heights of emotion with "Moving On," "Frustration," "Stay," "Star," "Tomorrow," and "Mother." For the latter, Diagram reappeared in the crowd as he played the final solo on his trumpet. Excited fans could be seen dancing along with him at another moment of the night. All the songs sound as if they were the last of the concert, and the audience appreciates it, although the deliberate and contrived intensity wears off at times.

The final apotheosis made it clear who the band of the night was, despite Liam Gallagher and the disgruntled early guests. "Out To Get You" and three encores played, with which James knew the bet was won: the famous "Getting Away With It," "Laid," and that generational anthem "Sit Down." Absolutely the entire crowd ended up on their feet, dancing, clapping, and singing along as if it were the last concert of their lives. Mission accomplished.