Ana Tijoux and DJ Dacel Ignite Parkteatern's Galärparken

Parkteatern is one of the great treasures of the summer that we have in Stockholm, and on this special evening, Galärparken hosted one of Latin America’s—if not the world’s—foremost hip-hop artists in a collaboration between Selam and Parkteatern. Taking the stage was the French-born Chilean singer Ana Tijoux with DJ Dacel. It’s evident that the two have known each other since 1997 and have played together ever since. They are in sync and the music quickly grabs hold of us.

After a few songs, Ana feels it’s all a bit too tidy, so she invites the audience to dance in front of the stage. No sooner said than done, it doesn’t take long before the space between the first row of seats and the stage is filled with dancing people, who remain there for the rest of the concert as a swaying sea rhythmically following Ana Tijoux’s voice and DJ Dacel’s music.

Ana radiates charm and has the audience in her grasp. She apologizes for her English, mixes it with Spanish, makes up words, and jokes about it. During the evening, she uses the Swedish word tack. And she uses it as if it were a sampled word, giving it rhythm, so that even as she thanks the audience, she plays with the word. Tack, tack-tack-tack, tack. Tack-tack.

In “Bailando sola aquí” from the album Vida (2024), she sings about having grown tired of the sorrow after a lost love, about pain and the pursuit of romance, and deciding instead to be happy and just dance. She celebrates friendship and family in “Millonaria.” Her music is about struggle, resistance, and love. She is personal and open in songs such as “1977,” “Shock,” and “Mi verdad.” I wasn’t actually there to photograph or write about the concert, but I couldn’t resist, because it was so good that the more people know about her, the better.

After an evening like this, we can count ourselves lucky. We are truly all millionaires, whether we dance, meet friends, enjoy a picnic, or simply become one with the music and Ana Tijoux.