Category: Concert Reviews

words: Raquel Pinheiro; photos: Manuela Matos Monteiro & Raquel Pinheiro; video: Manuela Matos Monteiro

Canções de Resistência a celebratory gathering part of Galerias Mira 10th anniversary were a joyful soulfilling evening of collective singing, on stage and on the audience, at times merged as a single voice

Twenty one songs, from seven different countries, five languages. From folk songs which beginnings trace back to the unknown or the XIX century to an assortment of key XX century songs. If the night was cold, dark and rainy, hearts and voices were strong, bright, warm, defient, loud or gentle depending of what the words called for, hopeful.

You can hear us all, choir and audience, sing We Hall Overcome – lon the video above – with passion and emotion in a room so full it spilled over to the street so many of us came for the ride. What you cannot hear or see is the downpours that, at times, would bring a shimmering sound into the back of the room, adding another sound and sensory layer to the performance.

There is a lot to be said about a room filled with humans singing along, content, joined by a mutual unspoken, sang, understanding. Many of us think we cannot sing, so out of fashion singing become in our daily lives. For the most part, we can all sing, hum, clap, be rhythmic, rock our bodies. Instrumentation, mostly acoustic guitar, but also double bass, electric bass at its most simple and gentle flute, was generally minimal. An accompaniment to the voices. If the all evening was a pleasure, it was a double plessure for me, after many decades, to re-met composer and songwriter João Lóio – musical director of Canções de Resistência – who was a a key figure of my childhood.

Canções de Resistência no Mira:Choir: Ana Afonso, Ana Ribeiro, Fernando Mota, Guilhermino Monteiro, Inês Salsedas, João Lafuente, João Lóio, Luísa Calado, Manuel Salsedas, Octávio Fonseca, Pedro Ramajal, Regina CastroSound: Carlos Rocha Musical Direction: João LóioProgramming & production: Acúrcio Monteiro, Armando Dourado

Libreto:

Maio Maduro Maio (José Afonso, Portugal); Para Não Dizer Que Não Falei Das Flores (Geraldo Vandré, Brazil); Ay, Carmela (XIX century Spanish folk song, Spain); Se Me Quieres Escribir (Spain); Por Trás Daquela Janela (José Afonso, Portugal); Comprade Juan Miguel (Alfredo Zitarrosa, Uruguay); We Shall Overcome (Pete Seager, United States); Canción Para Mi América (Daniel Viglietti, Uruguay;) La Complainte Du Partisan (Emmanuel d’Astier de lá Vigerie, France); Morte E Vida Severina (João Cabral de Melo Neto, Brazil); Benditos (José Afonso, Portugal); Milonga Del Fusilado (Carlos Maria Gutiérrez, Uruguay); Which Side Are You On (Florence Reese, United States); Canta Camarada (José Afonso from a traditional Portuguese song, Portugal); Canción Del Minero (Victor Jara, Chile); El Pueblo Unido (Sérgio Ortega & Quilapayún,, Chile); Strange Fruit (Abel Meeropol as Lewis Allan, United States); La Lega (XIX century Italian folk song, Italy); Todo Cambia (Castillo “Mudanza” & Julio Numhauser, Chile); Construção (Chico Buarque, Brazil) / Operário Em Construção (Vinicius de Moraes, Brazil); Bella Ciao (Italian folk song c. late XIX century, Italy)

words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos Telma Mota

Goat have been a staple on the world music – according to them landscape the genre everyone plays – landscape leaving us with a handful of albums showcasing a well seasoned and thrilling musical growth. Would the gang of illustrious masked unknowns that has previously visited us be the one on Hard Club stage? It surely was the band lead by Christian Johansson whose strong riffs, always weaved with delicious regionalisms to honour the voodo origin from Korpilombolo, in northern Sweden, cannot be mistaken.

The Nordic heptagon flawless rode an irreproachandle performance. Diving us into the land of vibrat psychedelic rock, garnished with assorted musical passports, from hard rock to funk – well held together by the female voices duet that gives it a shamanic flavour. Goat diluted the night into a festive aurora borealis.

words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota

As an introduction, to say that Calexico are indie folk or any other genre is too reductive. outro género qualquer é muito redutor. Extremely reductive I would say.

The band dreamed and conceived by Joey Burns (guitar/vocals) and John Convertino (drums) had us used to always expect something high quality and very “caliente” given their unique and specific musical idiosyncrasies ipor força das suas idiossincrasias The bar was set very high from the start. Therefore, on the 12th of October I went to Casa da Música for the celebration of the so called musical styles fusion. My expectations were fully fulfilled.

Calexico presented themselves at their best and maximum strength. If something can be called a remarkable performance theirs was it. Calexico started more quietly with Sunken, Waltz followed by Quattro and Black Heart, then, drove into apotheosis and there they stayed. Joey Burns is an affabe, kind communicator. An experienced, playful entertainer. He does no shy to praise Porto and its people, its generosity (nothing we didn’t knew). Joye’s folk guitar is called Amália Rodrigues avd he thanked the country its musical legacy. He could see himself spending the rest of his life here.

Almost always with seven musicians on stage, between drums, bass, guitars, accordion, brass, keyboards and xylophone it was an endless superior quality orchestral music.By Attack El Robot joy and exuberance hit the room.There was shouting, Mexican like whistles and happiness and fiesta all over Dub latina, Alone Again or Guero Canedo, Crumble and No Doze and it was hit the gas pedal from then onwards. Tequila Sunrise for everyone. In Victor Jara’s Hands his relevance to music and his ever lasting memory were mentioned. It was pretty..

There was time and availability for everything. Covers and shades of Joy Division , Manu Chao , Buenavista Social Club, clubbing e jazz. In conclusion: to do all this with such quality is not for everyon. It is for banda such as Calexico. It is for those that know. If there was a place opened that late I could had bought a sombrero and a poncho. Viva la música.

words: Marcos Leal (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota

Memorials presented themselves on a Thursday night at Maus Hábitos, Porto. A band that, from two soundtracks challenge Tramps! and Woman Against The Bomb was put together by Electralane’sc singer, guitarist, saxophonist Verity Susman and saxofonista and guitarist Matthew Simms, from WIRE’s late line-up, among other projects running from It Hugs Back dream pop to Better Corners’s noise. . A multi layered musician mirrored in Memorials’ music, that splits himself between handling several instruments, pedals and other sound making mechanisms.

The concert begun with both members behind their musical paraphernalia. Verity, on the left, behind the keyboards and pedals, with the sax by her side. Matthew, on the right,, on the drum kit with laptop, loopstations, anogue tape machine, framed by a guitar and assorted connect pedals. The visual projection already creating the visual ambient to the music to follow. Colourful images of varied hues, misshapen, in repetitive movements. A certain mix of Pollock and Van Gogh.Had already listened to Memorials two albums I was curious how the duo’s performance would unfold.Which turned out the way indicated on the records. A sound exploration through different times of assorted psychedelic sounds, at a time more organic, at a time more electronic. A variety of compositions, some more classic, some more modernist, that seemed to travel in time between the 1970’s and the 1980’s.. Kraut, drone, psychedelia, even indie, were present highlighting the duo’s exploratory side.

With hair and dress leaning towards the 1060’s, Verity Susman represented well the retro-futuristic sound of the band, her voice reminding singers of thar era. Mathew Simms, with his thick, long hair, impressed by how skillfully he took turns between the several instruments and mechanisms, reproducing a range of sounds, loops, and melodies that created the several layers of what was being played. But for a small issue with a pedal, the performance wax fluid, with the audience, a bit shy, showing a good reception to the music. By the end, Memorials asked the audience if it wanted more music to which said audience replied yes with some dancing in a cheerful concert finale.

words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Neno Costa

The cozy space of Hard Rock Cafe, in Porto was the stage for Alain Johannes’s acoustic concert. Johannes presented music from throughout his career, during which he was associated with the likes, to name a few os his creative partners, of Mark Lanegan, Chris Cornell, PJ Harvey, Dave Grohl or Josh Homme. Alain Johannes shared music from his reportoire, in an intimate ambient with the cumplicity of the audience.

Equipped with three acoustic guitars, he virtuously extracted the most appropriated sound in a blues-folk-rock mode, garnishing his compelling voice, capable of tamming a rattlesnake. Hope and a certain quiet redemption resonates in Alain’s melodies. We were invited into an existential pilgrimage, in a desert landscape with unlikely flowers.Return To You (Spark, 2010), Kaleidoscope (Fragments And Wholes, Vol. 1, 2014), Free (Hum, 2020) or Hanging Tree (a song composed in partnership with Josh Homme, Mark Lanegan and Nick Oliveri) where some of the twenty songs played that were well worth the pilgrimage.

words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro; photos: Paulo Carmona

I begin with the final score:Teenage Fanclub: 19 “I’m too old for” : 0At the first chord, the last ones started already defeated. Not that it matters, but age has its most damaging downside in the absurd conformism that the lesson is learned and let’s just go there rehearsal in front of a bunch of unknown people, familiar with us and our ways. Not at all! Not at all! The 19 songs on the setlist was perfectly and flawless spun out and no pass was missed. They’re, without doub, life lived gentlemen, but the insolent youth of their songs goes into their guts to drink the memories of sonic youth and spill them out.

We, the lucky ones (lucky bastards) that dared out on a Tuesday evening to go Hard Club to see these comrades, got a shot (no counter indications) of joy, sunny disposition, affection and lots of humour. Super fun, in fact. Teenage Fan Club opened with Home, About You, Foreign Land and Endeless Arcade in great rhythm and strength among energetic, but melodic guitars, drums with a bass, tall snare drum, that never snaps l, closed upon itself with a, by the way a very well played, bass guitar as company Here and there, a fork guitar shows up, a majestic alto sax, rocking keyboard always in the back and a cute xylophone that gracefulku turned up. As an homage, I highlight the brilliantly tinned backing vocals and vocals that are the big weapon of this a LA carte indie-alternative rock’n’roll band.

Alcoholiday, See the light, I Felt a Light on, Falling Into The Sun were also served with an excellent inter-guitar game; Your Love is The Place, Everything is Falling Apart, What You Do To Me, It’s a Bad World with the wah-wah pedal thundering in, doing wonders.

While Normam Blake takes his time and tunes his guitar, the band chooses to play clean, improve jazz to which, with humour Norman replies “that is a disguised way of pressuring a guy”, laughs Seguem-se I don’t Want Control Of You, I’m in Love, My Uptight Life and The Concept (I know, I’m pretty good nicking setlists) follow. They say farewell to a pre-announced encore. They return with three more songs: Tired Of Being Alone, Back To The Light and end rather well with Eveything Flows. I’ve always, liked Scottish Highlanders, no exception here.The week starts flowing much better with help from this lads. I jump on my motorbike and happily ride back home.

words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photo: Neno Costa

Sir Richard Bishop, discreet music legend and Sun City Girls (1979-2007) founder was a refreshing appearance at Hard Club. For about an hour, Bishop granted the audience with a dyed and preservers free performance, during which, bend over his electric guitar, with elegant virtuousism he painted wide and poetically beautiful sound landscapes.

Dislocated from a certain musical convencionalism anchored in a black (blues) and white (country) dialetic Sir Richard Bishop interpreted works imbued with varied inheritances – from folk to flameng – that truly shape Uncle Sam’s country, offering an unforgettable moment to all that had the previledge of listening to him.