On January 6, at nine o'clock in the evening, more than 15,000 people gathered at the WiZink Center in Madrid to pray. It was a kind of mass mass of the Hakuna Music Band, the Christian group that emerged from the religious Hakuna movement and was founded in 2013 by the priest José Pedro Manglano (better known as Josepe), who left Opus Dei in 2020, to carry this out to establish a current. In the darkness, the first thing heard was the voice of a boy, remembering that centuries ago Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar had left everything behind to “worship the king” and that those present on this Epiphany in 2024 would do the same because “Jesus is still King.”
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And so they did for more than two hours and 23 songs, or, as Macarena Torres, a member of Hakuna, said minutes before the concert, “prayers in the deepest sense.” In fact, before going on stage, the entire band organized a holy hour in the chapel they had set up in one of the WiZink rooms. During these holy hours, a believer (it can be a priest) gives a speech and then the adoration is sung. Only in Madrid, remembers Victoria, Macarena's partner in the band's choir, 15 events are organized every week. In the morning they organized a mass in another room of the pavilion. “We do it to be clear that whatever will happen is not ours,” they explained. “This helps us a lot to realize that the engine that moves everything is God. We leave everything to him. Let him do what he wants and let him take advantage of everything we do.”
When you enter WiZink you can see many families with very young children fighting for popcorn and soft drinks. There are groups of friends, maybe more friends, between 16 and a maximum of 25 years old. Two of these girls are drinking a glass of Fanta and waiting in line in front of the toilet because one of them says to the other: “Then we can't go pee and miss a song.” Two much older colleagues with their mini-beers in the Hands celebrating their date on Twelfth Night do not have the same plan: “Planazo”. A young priest, one of many seen in the corridors of the concert hall, explains to the couple accompanying him where their seats are: “Like the Almighty. Up, and the higher, the higher, the closer.”
They all seem to have adhered to the required etiquette, popularly known as Cayetan style. Formerly known as posh. She with very long, loose hair, sweaters, baggy pants and sneakers. You, with hoodies, chinos and also sneakers. It's the Hakuner uniform.
Although Cristina, 16, and her friends appear in the crowd, they have made up their faces with small diamonds on their cheeks. His favorite song is Arde, the song with which Hakuna pays tribute to Saint Joseph: “A humble carpenter sleeps in the arms of his God,” the lyrics say. The six girls attend the same school and the parish of Santa Eugenia (Madrid). “We’ve been listening to Hakuna since we were in fourth grade,” they say. Thanks to the father of one of them, they got the tickets, which were between 30 and 40 euros.
Cristina invented a bracelet with the name of her favorite song. A few meters away from where she and her friends wait in the front row to get in, they sell similar copies for two euros. They are the star product, “for those who enjoy it,” is how one of the sellers defines them. They are made of fabric and have the names of Hakuna songs on them. “They’re not like the Swifties [las fans de Taylor Swift]“, explains another saleswoman. “They're made of beads and have the lyrics to her songs.” At the same stand there are T-shirts for 15 to 30 euros (none with very explicit religious sayings), sweatshirts for 60 euros and books like Shitty Saints and Outrageously Happy for 5 and 20 Euros.
The bracelets with the names of Hakuna songs that were sold for two euros at the Hakuna concert at the Wizink Center. Ana Marcos
The concert begins and although some of the 50 members of Hakuna on stage constantly remember that they went there to pray while singing, this is not like a gospel mass where hands are raised, shouts are shouted to heaven and it even leads to fainting spells. Here is ecstasy pop style. There are lots of hugs between friends and dancing from side to side. At peak times, circles are formed in the middle of the floor to look at each other, or choreographies such as raising and lowering the arms in praise of God are organized.
This band has become one of the biggest Christian music phenomena in Spain – they sold out the entire WiZink in a few hours, they were the star performance of the World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, to which they were personally invited by the group Pope Francis, who led them had previously received at the Vatican – because they had the ability to transform mass songs into effective pop hits.
The Hakuna movement knows that in order to prevent the proportion of believers in Spain from continuing to decline, it must be the young people who talk to young people about “their misfortunes, their worries, the questions and the crap of life”. , the members explained several times. this volume. They don't just speak the same language. They dress alike. Cayetano's uniform is the same above and below the stage.
The Wizink in Madrid was filled with more than 15,000 visitors at the Hakuna concert.Hakuna Music Group
Nobody stands out on stage. Pairs of singers or trios of singers take over. That they play a certain song today, but will perform a different one at the next concert. Macarena Torres had to sing “Dance and Leave Stories” Saturday night, a tribute to a Hakuna member who died of cancer, she explained. “All of this has nothing to do with us, we are spectators of what is happening and we consider it great luck,” said Ignacio Serrano, another member of Hakuna. It is so well calculated that images with religious allegories and song lyrics follow each other on the main screen. The smaller screens, the ones on the sides, are for the singers.
An effect similar to that of the Instagram filter is created: the public sees 50 boys and girls between the ages of 18 and 32 who could be them. The difference is that now it is the church and not the social networks that is trying to convince you that if the members of Hakuna have found answers to all their doubts in God, then He can also solve some problems for you. “Blessed be God, who gives life,” they shouted enthusiastically to the rhythm of pop.
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