Category: Concerts

words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Guilherme Lucas.

The Saxophones a duo from Oakland, California performed last Thursday in Porto during their Winter European mini-tour, promoting their latest album Songs of The Saxophones (June 2018).

The venue chosen for the first Portuguese show was an almost to capacity Hard Club’s Sala 2 which for a Thursday is always something remarkable. They will perform in Lisboa on Saturday.

This duo is, in its operational base, an artistic extension of the two musicians, since they are a couple. They are Alexi Erenkov (voice, guitar and saxophone), the husband and founder of the project, and his wife, Alison Alderdice (percussion and vocals). They share common endeavors and tastes together, finding in their music the perfect way to publicly express their feelings and many of the daily aspects of their relationship. Live, and in studio, they have the collaboration of Richard Laws, a longtime friend (bass, vibraphone, vocals). In addition to being a couple they are also parents (for the first time) of a very recent offspring.

Recently the duo has been talked about because of the excellent reception to their work, both from specialized music critics as well as the general public. Although this project is the product of a decade only about two years ago did it begin to draw attention, mostly because their first work and of gems like the song If You’re On The Water (2016), that also titles the album.

What seduced me in this band, right after listening to it for the first time when I discovered them, was that they were “haunted” by the Twin Peaks factor, largely because of their sweeping version of Just You. And yes, it’s undeniable that there are many noir ambiences from David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti’s compositions in The Saxophones’s songs of, in it residing much of the interest in their sound. But not because the latter are mere “clones” of the artists mentioned above, only because they also drink from to the same musical influences. As is the case Exotica – Hawaiian 1950s music -, jazz in general (Alexi Erenkov is a studious musician and passionate about jazz, The Saxophones being the antidote found to simplify his musical discourse), as well as the most singable surf music, which irrevocably leads to the so-called dream pop. There as much of Everly Brothers as of Roy Orbison or Leonard Cohen, among many other, in their music. It is this fusion of genres that more clearly helps to understand the precious sound of this Californian duo.

This concert in Porto would therefore serve as an excellent opportunity to live perceive how their minimal melancholic and serene, but completely magical and seductive, pop songs, could be impose upon an audience, which I want to believe, was knowledgeable of their work … or at least some of their most emblematic themes.

The concert was simply excellent and fascinating. Period.

The band did parade practically all the themes of its discography and also presented others from their next record, Singing Desperatley Suite that will be released February 2019.

Surely live the way they play their songs is the same with which they are recorded on CD or vinyl. They are so disciplined in instrumental execution that there is nothing to point out, leaving us only with the sweet quest to enjoy their melodies and Alexi Erenkov’s unique voice.

I would say that, essentially, the magic of The Saxophones resides in the mastery with which they play with the silences in their compositions. There is space and silence in all their themes, one can hear the breathing of each one of them. Do not understand this silence of which I speak as mere space between instruments … I speak of silence as another instrument, which is another conception of the thing.

Between songs the duo was very friendly and communicative with the audience that completely surrended to the band. There were enough moments of great sense of humor and good mood between the couple, revealing that they were amazed by the almost full room, and that they had no doubt that it was the first time that they had acted for so many people … coupled with the the fact that a few hours before they under total stress between airports, being there with so many people watching them was something surreal and unforgettable. They also took the opportunity to say they were touring with their baby, and that there is a different glamor after the concerts, like waking up in the middle of the night with the child’s crying. General laughter echoed.

After the concert ended, the band returned to a single encore, finishing with the song that was missing – and that was necessary – and that was Just You. In the end the three musicians were treated with a long standing ovation by the audience the same way it had already happened to each of their previous songs. Totally deserved, one must say. Magic was present in Hard Club’s Sala 2 on a rainy Winter night.

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

Os norte-americanos The Saxophones, dueto natural de Oakland, Califórnia, apresentaram-se, na passada quinta-feira, na Invicta, no seguimento da sua mini-tour europeia de Inverno, de promoção ao seu mais recente trabalho de longa duração, de nome Songs of The Saxophones (Junho 2018).

O local escolhido para este seu primeiro espetáculo nacional foi a sala 2 do Hard Club, que praticamente encheu, o que para uma quinta-feira é sempre algo assinalável. Atuarão ainda em Lisboa, neste próximo sábado.

Este duo é, na sua base operacional, uma extensão artística dos dois, pelo facto de serem um casal. São eles Alexi Erenkov (voz, guitarra e saxofone), o marido e fundador deste projeto, e a sua esposa, Alison Alderdice (percussões e vozes). Ambos repartem, de forma cúmplice, esforços e gostos comuns, encontrando na sua música a forma perfeita de extravasarem publicamente os seus sentimentos e muitos dos aspetos do dia-a-dia da sua relação. Ao vivo, e em estúdio, contam com a colaboração de Richard Laws, um amigo de longa data, no baixo, vibrafone e vozes. Para além de serem um casal, também são pais (pela primeira vez), de um muito recente rebento.

Os dois tem dado que falar nos últimos tempos, pelo excelente acolhimento aos seus trabalhos, tanto a nível de crítica musical especializada como do público em geral. Embora este projeto seja produto de uma década, só há sensivelmente dois anos atrás é que começaram a dar mais nas vistas, muito por via do seu primeiro trabalho, e por pérolas como a canção If You’re On The Water (2016), que dá nome também ao disco.

O que me seduziu nesta banda, logo à primeira audição, quando os descobri, é que estavam “assombrados” pelo fator Twin Peaks, muito por culpa da arrebatadora versão que fazem do tema Just You. E sim, é indiscutível que há muitas das ambiências noir das composições de David Lynch e de Angelo Badalamenti nas canções dos The Saxophones, onde reside muito do interesse pelo seu som. Mas não porque estes últimos sejam meros “clones” dos artistas atrás citados, mas apenas porque também vão beber às mesmas influências musicais. É o caso da música exotica (estilo musical) dos anos 50, de origem havaiana, o jazz em geral (Alexi Erenkov é um músico estudioso e apaixonado pelo jazz, sendo os The Saxophones o antídoto encontrado para simplificar o seu discurso musical), bem como a música surf na sua vertente mais baladeira, que conduz irremediavelmente ao denominado dream pop. Há tanto de Everly Brothers, como de Roy Orbison ou Leonard Cohen, na sua música, entre muitos outros. É esta fusão de géneros que ajuda a entender com mais esclarecimento o som precioso deste duo californiano.

Este seu concerto no Porto serviria, por isso, como uma excelente oportunidade para perceber, ao vivo, como as suas canções pop minimais, melancólicas e serenas, mas completamente mágicas e sedutoras, se conseguiriam impor a um público, que quero crer, era conhecedor do seu trabalho… ou pelo menos de alguns dos seus temas mais emblemáticos.

O concerto foi simplesmente excelente e fascinante. Ponto.

A banda fez desfilar praticamente todos os temas da sua discografia e ainda apresentou outros do seu próximo trabalho, a sair em Fevereiro do próximo ano, já com o nome escolhido de Singing Desperately Suite.

A forma como interpretam os seus temas ao vivo, é seguramente, a mesma com que os mesmos estão registados em cd ou vinil. São tão disciplinados na execução instrumental que nada há a apontar, restando-nos apenas a doce missão de fruir completamente das suas melodias e da voz única de Alexi Erenkov.

Diria que a magia destes The Saxophones reside essencialmente na mestria com que jogam com os silêncios nas suas composições. Há espaço e silêncio em todos os seus temas, consegue-se ouvir o respirar de cada um deles. Não se entenda este silêncio de que falo como apenas mero espaço entre instrumentos… falo do silêncio como mais um instrumento, o que é uma outra concepção da coisa.

O duo mostrou-se muito simpático e comunicativo, entre músicas, com o público, que de resto estava completamente rendido à banda. Foram bastantes os momentos de grande sentido de humor e boa disposição entre o casal, revelando que estavam espantados com a sala praticamente cheia, e que não tinham dúvidas que era a primeira vez que atuavam para tanta gente… aliado ao facto de que há umas horas atrás andavam em completo stress entre aeroportos, estar ali com tanta gente a assistir era algo surreal e inesquecível. Aproveitaram ainda para informar que andam em tour com o seu bebé, e que há um glamour diferente depois dos concertos, como acordar a meio da noite com o choro da criança. Gargalhadas gerais ecoaram.

A banda regressou, após o final do concerto, para um só encore, terminando com a canção que faltava – e que se impunha – e que era Just You. No final os três músicos foram brindados com uma demorada ovação por parte do público, como já tinha vindo a acontecer a cada uma das suas músicas anteriores. Completamente merecidas, de resto. A magia marcou presença na sala 2 do Hard Club, numa noite chuvosa de Inverno.

 

 

 

 

 

words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Guilherme Lucas.

Porto’s young musician Joao. (just like that) was The Saxophones opening act, described by the promoter as a “promising musician”. This was his first concert and João told the audience in advance to forgive him any possible mistake during his performance, since nervousness prevailed, which is understandable and an acceptable reason.

And can be said of relevance about João.’s performance? I will start by talking about his repertoire. Not knowing his work beforehand, but had previously listening to three songs on the musician’s YouTube channel, the brief sample left me with the clear conviction that he is someone who is still looking for his sound; the three songs represent different strands of his tastes and influences, and listened briefly they do not seem to have a definite stylistic connection that allows to typecast his sound. Definitely pop with overhaul lounge music. The songs also show some mistakes (vocal and instrumental) and less well achieved compositional moments, but also it is perceived that if debugged they can prove themselves.

In such regard the great surprise was that, live, the musician revealed very simple and directly, another dimension of his creative possibilities. He played only with an acoustic guitar and, at times, with an electric guitar, aided minimal percussion and a drums rhythms (but very well executed) by an even younger friend, of whom I was not able to catch the name (in decades of live concerts I think it is the first time I remember seeing a drummer so young. I do not even risk guessing his age. Somewhere around pre-adolescence) and this formula was completely correct because it made it possible to highlight and impose his good voice, accompanied by the guitar. What seemed to me too “wrapped” and complicated by the production options of his three Youtube songs had been eliminated and I was definitely witnessing João. in a completely different very good quality registry.

João. has in his English songs his greatest asset; they work very well, his voice is captivating and has substance to launch the musician into a career. In the middle there was a song in Portuguese, in a way of singing that stylistically dates back to Portuguese 80’s rock, which allowed to understand that from such side nothing interesting or magical will come from, that is without any interest (to me, of course).

In conclusion, I’ll say it was a good concert debut concert. João. and his drummer friend did well on stage; there were good musical moments, and they especially pleased me with the simple and sincere formula they presented themselves on stage and there is definitely something there that better worked out can take this young musician to other levels.

Promising João. did nicely fulfilling with poise the difficult task of being The Saxophones’s opening act. The many applause from the audience at the end his performance validate my words

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

 

Abriu a noite para os The Saxophones, o jovem músico portuense Joao. (é assim mesmo, só João com um ponto), descrito pela organizadora do evento como um “músico promissor”. Foi o seu primeiro concerto e João esclareceu antecipadamente a audiência que esta desculpasse qualquer eventual erro durante a sua atuação, já que o nervosismo imperava, o que é motivo atendível e compreensível.

E o que é que este João. tem de relevante para ser comentado a nível da sua atuação? Começo por falar do seu repertório. Desconhecendo, de todo, o seu trabalho antes deste concerto, mas escutando previamente três canções que o músico tem no seu canal do Youtube, fiquei, por essa breve amostra, com a clara convicção de que é alguém que ainda anda à procura do seu som; as três canções representam, cada uma delas, vertentes diferentes dos seus gostos e influências, e ouvidas de relance não tem aparentemente uma ligação estilística definida para se poder catalogar o seu som. É, isso sim, definitivamente pop, com travos de lounge music no geral. As mesmas evidenciam também ainda alguns desacertos (de voz e instrumentais) e momentos composicionais menos bem conseguidos, mas também se percebe que há ali qualquer coisa que pode vir a dar cartas, se depurado.

Nesse sentido a grande surpresa foi que, ao vivo, o músico revelou, de forma muito simples e direta, uma outra dimensão das suas possibilidades criativas. Tocou apenas com uma guitarra acústica e outras vezes com a guitarra elétrica, auxiliado nas percussões e numa bateria de ritmos minimais (mas muito bem executados) por um outro seu (ainda muito mais jovem) amigo, do qual não consegui fixar o nome (acho que deve ter sido, em décadas de concertos ao vivo a que assisto, a primeira vez que me lembro de ver um baterista tão jovem que nem arrisco em adivinhar a sua idade, mas que estará algures entre a pré-adolescência, por aí), e essa fórmula foi completamente acertada, pois possibilitou destacar e impor a sua boa voz, acompanhada à guitarra. Aquilo que me pareceu demasiado “embrulhado” e complicado pelas opções de produção das suas três músicas do Youtube, haviam sido eliminadas e estava definitivamente a presenciar um João. num registo completamente distinto e de muito boa qualidade.

João. tem nas suas canções em inglês o seu maior trunfo; funcionam muito bem, a sua voz é cativante, e tem substância para levar o músico para uma carreira. Houve lá no meio uma cantada em português, que serviu para perceber também que por aquele lado nada de interessante, ou mágico, vai conseguir obter, numa forma de cantar que remete estilisticamente para o rock português dos anos 80, ou seja, sem qualquer interesse (para mim, claro).

Para finalizar, direi que foi um bom concerto para uma estreia. João. e o seu amigo baterista, estiveram ambos muito bem em palco; houve bons momentos de música, agradou-me especialmente a fórmula simples e sincera como se apresentaram em palco e definitivamente há ali qualquer coisa que mais bem trabalhada, pode levar este jovem músico para outros patamares.

O promissor João. cumpriu muito agradavelmente, e com acerto, a difícil tarefa de abrir para os The Saxophones. As muitas palmas do público, no final da sua atuação, validam as minhas palavras.

Words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Guilherme Lucas

Marky Ramone, one of the four legendary drummers of the most influential and important band of all rock history (that’s right, truths are to be told), currently touring Europe with his private band Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, presented himself on the last Portuguese show last Thursday (the first was the night before in Lisboa) at Hard Club before a crowd of, essentially, fans of the Ramones’ legacy.

Marky Ramone, as well as the two other only living Ramones (bassist Cj Ramone and drummer Richie Ramone – not Elvis Ramone, who only performed in two group concerts), currently use private bands to spread the Ramones’ legacy around the planet, those also being a way to keep alive important musical careers and a source of personal income since bills have to be paid. The legacy of the mythical group remains extremely current and perhaps stronger than before (at least at the merchandise level). In Brazil and Argentina the Ramones are an authentic religion. In the rest of the world not so much, but their recognition is universal and, therefore, somehow gigantic. There is this joke that if we were all fans of the Ramones, there would never be wars. Such truth.

Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg concert at Hard Club was simply brilliant. It was a major rock concert. For several reasons. One is to have made it possible to recognize (again) that the Ramones were a band completely out of the pack, fascinatingly different from all the others. They played for almost two hours without pausing between songs. Marky Ramone’s band was replicated it as a dogma. It is impressive and very exciting to watch live. Then, because this was also a concert at which all the classics were played, and some others from the band, in complete communion with what any Ramones fan would like to hear live. The Ramones always played for their fans with immense respect, and Marky continues to do so.

But, regardless of all the relevance and focus that Marky Ramone may have, it is in his vocalist, Spaniard Pela, from Submission City Blues, where the biggest surprise of the performance of the quartet lies. Pela is completely diabolic on stage, in the best of the punk-rock postures I have memory of (he is not Iggy Pop, nor a late Stiv Bators, but he is almost there in a different kind of posture). Master of an excellent voice (often able to replicate Joey’s original one) and of a better performance, and, unlike the static characteristically position of the iconic Joey Ramone, Pela makes a rampant party between band and audience . It is in Pela that lies the greatest performance difference between a Ramones‘s concert and Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, since the bassist Martin (also a Spaniard), not being Dee Dee Ramone nor CJ Ramone, was quite alright and within what to be expected for this kind of performance.

On the other hand, Greg Hetson (The Circle Jerks guitarist and founder, and, later member of Bad Religion until 2013), special guest on guitar, proved on stage to be a very competent musician to play at the speed and energy of the Ramones (although NOBODY can come close to the greatest punk guitarist ever, Johnny Ramone) … and for the first time I saw in him  (like an acid trip) Pinhead playing guitar (because of the similarity of his face with the famous mask). Note: Pinhead was an element of the Ramones’ staff (usually a roadie) who wore a mask of a bald character, with a small face and with some mental retardation, based on the cult film Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932), and that in all the concerts of the band came onstage, dancing stupidly, to deliver to Joey Ramone a billboard that read Gabba Gabba Hey! It was the ritualistic form of the band to express to their unbalanced, marginalized, victims of bullying audience that came to their shows, that they as well could be a Ramone, and that they were accepted by the band.

Marky Ramone, a majestic figure, seated and surrounded by his drums, on a small stage that lifted him up so that he was always visible to the audience, showed in small but extremely important details how to play punk on drums. In his very own style (inherited from the first drummer Tommy Ramone), but also for his jazz influences, Marky is a great drummer, with immense personality. He is a Ramone!

The band played thirty-five tracks in a row, with no stops … aside for their only encore. There was a fantastic atmosphere between audience and band (aside from a brief moment when Marky interrupted the show and almost leave the stage, confronting a member of the audience that was presumably team). Nothing worthy of mention and the concert carried on until the end in complete madness with the usual scenes, pogo, mosh and headbanging among the audience. The usual at a punk concert and with the adrenaline at its highest.

By way of conclusion: Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg equals a reliable real punk show, transverse, to which no one is indifferent. The remaining living Ramones all have that degree of demand in their bands, and Marky has proven on stage that he knows very well how to keep alive the Ramones’s legacy for old and new generations.

That, to also say, that the Ramones are the second band that changed my whole life when I was 13-14 (the first were the Sex Pistols), and that I owe them practically everything I am today in the music world. The love I have for them is not possible to be described, it is something that belongs to me; it’s personal. The Ramones wanted to be bigger than the Beatles, and to me they are, because they were more influential than Liverpool’s four. Until 1974 the sound and way of playing guitar that Johnny Ramone invented and made popular didn’t exist. Today, the sound of his guitar is in every is rock band, from pop to metal. Also, for the simple reason that not everyone could aspire to play like the Beatles, since it is not an easy thing. But everyone can start a band and play like the Ramones. The Ramones simplified rock. They were a band that was completely revolutionary in origin and purpose. They still are.

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

Marky Ramone, um dos quatro lendários bateristas da mais influente e importante banda de toda a história do rock (é isso mesmo, as verdades são para ser escritas), atualmente em digressão na Europa com a sua banda privativa (a Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg), apresentou-se na última data nacional, na passada quinta-feira, (a primeira tinha sido na noite anterior, em Lisboa), na sala do Hard Club, para uma multidão que era essencialmente fã do legado Ramones.
Marky Ramone, bem como os dois outros únicos Ramones vivos (o baixista Cj Ramone e o baterista Richie Ramone – aqui não entra Elvis Ramone, que só atuou em dois concertos do grupo), usam bandas privativas na atualidade para propalar o legado Ramones pelo planeta, sendo estas também uma forma de manter vivas carreiras musicais importantes e fonte de rendimentos pessoais, pois há que pagar as contas. O legado do mítico grupo continua extremamente atual e talvez mais forte do que antes (pelo menos a nível de merchandise). No Brasil e na Argentina os Ramones são uma autêntica religião. No resto do mundo nem tanto, mas o seu reconhecimento é universal e, por isso, algo gigantesco. Há aquela piada de que se todos fossemos fãs dos Ramones, jamais haveriam guerras. O que é uma completa verdade.
O concerto da Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg no Hard Club foi simplesmente brilhante. Foi um concerto maior de rock. Por variados motivos. Um deles é ter possibilitado reconhecer (mais uma vez), que os Ramones eram uma banda completamente fora do baralho, fascinantemente diferentes de todas as outras. Atuavam quase duas horas sem parar entre músicas. E isso foi replicado nesta banda de Marky Ramone como um dogma. É algo impressionante e muito excitante de se presenciar ao vivo. Depois porque foi também este, um concerto onde se tocaram todos os clássicos, e mais alguns, da banda, numa completa comunhão com o que qualquer fã dos Ramones gostaria de ouvir ao vivo. Os Ramones tocavam sempre para os seus fãs por imenso respeito, e o Marky continua nesse registo.
Mas, independentemente, de toda a importância e do foco que Marky Ramone possa ter, é no seu vocalista, o espanhol Pela, da banda Sumisión City Blues, que reside a maior surpresa da atuação do quarteto. Pela é completamente diabólico em palco, na melhor das posturas punk-rock de que tenho memória (não é um Iggy Pop, nem um falecido Stiv Bators, mas está quase lá, num outro tipo de postura). Senhor de uma excelente voz (em muitos momentos a conseguir quase replicar a voz original do Joey) e de uma melhor atuação, e, ao contrário de uma posição estática característica do icónico Joey Ramone, este Pela faz toda uma festa desenfreada entre banda e público. É em Pela que reside a maior diferença performativa entre um concerto dos Ramones e desta Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, já que o baixista Martin (também um espanhol), não sendo um Dee Dee Ramone nem um CJ Ramone, esteve bastante bem e dentro do previsível para este tipo de atuação.
Por outro lado, Greg Hetson (guitarrista fundador dos The Circle Jerks e posterior membro dos Badreligion até 2013), convidado especial na guitarra, provou em palco ser um músico muito competente para tocar na velocidade e na energia dos Ramones (embora NINGUÉM consiga estar à altura do melhor guitarrista punk de sempre, o enorme Johnny Ramone)… e pela primeira vez vi nele, (qual visão “alucinada” de ácidos) o Pinhead a tocar guitarra (pela semelhança do seu rosto com a famosa máscara). Obs: O Pinhead era um elemento do staff dos Ramones (geralmente um roadie) que colocava uma máscara de um personagem careca, rosto pequeno e com algum atraso mental, baseado no filme de culto Freaks (1932, do realizador Tod Browning), e que em todos os concertos da banda entrava em palco, dançando de forma idiota, para entregar ao Joey Ramone um cartaz onde se lia Gabba Gabba Hey! Era a forma ritualística da banda expressar a todo o seu público de desequilibrados, marginalizados e vítimas de bullying que acorriam aos seus espetáculos, que também eles podiam ser um Ramone, e que eram aceites pela banda.
Marky Ramone, qual figura majestosa, sentado e rodeado pela sua bateria, num pequeno palco que o elevava de forma a que fosse sempre visível para todo o público, mostrou em pequenos pormenores, mas extremamente importantes, como se deve tocar punk numa bateria. No seu estilo muito próprio (herdado do primeiro baterista Tommy Ramone), mas também pelas suas influências jazzísticas, Marky é um grande baterista, com imensa personalidade. É um Ramone!
A banda tocou trinta e cinco temas seguidos, sem paragens… não contando com o único encore que fizeram. O ambiente foi fantástico entre público e banda (tirando um breve momento em que Marky interrompeu o espetáculo para quase sair de palco, confrontando um elemento do público que se estava a portar presumivelmente mal, e que foi prontamente retirado do recinto pelos seguranças). Nada de mais e o concerto prosseguiu até ao final em registo de completa loucura. As cenas habituais, pogo, mosh e headbanging entre o público. O habitual num concerto de punk e com a adrenalina no máximo.

Em jeito de conclusão: Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg é sinónimo seguro de um espetáculo de verdadeiro punk, transversal, em que ninguém fica indiferente. Os restantes Ramones vivos tem todos esse grau de exigência nas suas bandas, e Marky provou em palco que sabe muito bem como manter vivo o legado dos Ramones para velhas e novas gerações.
Isto também para dizer que os Ramones são a segunda banda que mudou toda a minha vida quando tinha 13-14 anos, (a primeira foram os Sex Pistols), e que devo a eles praticamente tudo o que sou hoje no campo musical. O amor que tenho por eles não é possível de ser descrito, é algo que fica para mim; é pessoal. Os Ramones queriam ser maiores que os Beatles (de quem eram fãs acérrimos), e para mim são-no, pois foram mais influentes do que os quatro de Liverpool. Até 1974 não existia a forma e o som de tocar guitarra que Johnny Ramone inventou e popularizou. Hoje, o som da sua guitarra está em tudo o que é banda de rock, desde pop a metal. E também pela simples razão de que nem todos podiam ambicionar tocar como os Beatles, já que não é coisa fácil. Mas todos podem começar uma banda e tocar como os Ramones. Os Ramones simplificaram o rock. Foram uma banda completamente revolucionária na sua origem e nos seus propósitos. Ainda o são.

Words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Guilherme Lucas

Decreto 77 from Almada wore chosen to support Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg two Portuguese concerts. The collective that has existence for 16 years (they come to be in 2002 with a hiatus between 2013-15), have in its singer João, their greatest live asset. That does not detract from the empathy (and very solid instrumental competence) that the remaining members emanate throughout the performance.

João is the typical case, almost turned into a real meme, the eternal teenager inside a huge adult body (he’s a very tall boy), displaying of stage the attitude of some one that never wants to grow up. He performs, in an iconic and entertaining way, the whole spirit of a youthful stance very characteristic of the 80’s-90’s California’s punk-hardcore-skate gold years. Always trying to break whatever existing barriers between audience and band, very chatty and friendly, always sought through his performance draw the audience that gradually filled Hard Club’s Sala 2. And he succeeded. If, at the beginning of the show, things were a bit cold, towards the end of the concert the audience had a great enthusiasm towards the band’s performance considering the unpleasant of a smaller band to open for a larger one.

77 play essentially punk-rock, with some inroads to old school punk-hardcore of of a more emotional leaning, but always in a light, healthy and hopeful fashion, with strong choruses, sung in chorus, with melodic guitar solos, searching to reach teenage punk anthems (at times their music resembled something from Youth Brigade and Bad Religion). Therefore, they aren’t a depressive, dense, brutal and chaotic punk band. In such regard, they are part of what I personally classify as “punk pop hymns”. The themes of the quintet range from personal problems face-to-face with reality consumer society, war, love, peace, hate, etc. … deep down, all the classic causes of punk.

I found Decrteto 77’s concert very nice, even good, within their field. They are a serious and committed band within their proposal. It seemed to me a good choice of from the promotor to have chosen them for support act, since, somehow, without being an extreme and chaotic punk band, they are, however, quite accessible within this typology, which makes sense in the context that what to come next was a more than known and recognized by the masses musical legacy, like the Ramones.

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

Os Decreto 77, banda de Almada, foi a eleita para suporte das duas datas nacionais de Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg. O coletivo, que leva já 16 anos de existência (formados em 2002 e com um interregno de atividade entre 2013-15), tem no seu vocalista João, o seu maior trunfo ao vivo. Isto sem desmerecer também toda a empatia (e uma muito sólida competência instrumental), que os restantes membros emanam, ao longo da atuação.
João é o típico caso, feito quase um meme real, do eterno adolescente dentro de um corpo adulto e enorme (o rapaz é muito alto), e que em palco evidencia a atitude de não querer crescer nunca. Interpreta, de forma icónica e divertida, todo o espírito de uma certa postura juvenil muito característica do punk-hardcore-skate californiano dos anos de ouro dos 80-90. Tentando sempre quebrar eventuais barreiras entre o público e banda, muito conversador e simpático, procurou sempre através da sua performance cativar a adesão de uma assistência que ia preenchendo a pouco e pouco a sala 2 do Hard Club. E o que é facto é que o conseguiu. Se no início do espetáculo a coisa estava algo fria, já para o final do concerto percebia-se um maior entusiasmo por parte do público em geral, à atuação do grupo, considerando sempre a tarefa ingrata que é fazer, para uma banda mais pequena, a abertura para uma banda maior.

Os Decreto 77 tocam essencialmente punk-rock, com algumas incursões ao punk-hardcore old school de pendor mais emotivo, mas sempre numa vertente light, saudável e de esperança, de fortes refrões, cantados em coro e com solos de guitarra melódicos, na procura da realização de hinos punk adolescentes (em momentos da sua música lembram algo dos Youth Brigade e Bad Religion). Não são por isso, e de todo, uma banda punk com um som depressivo, denso, brutal e caótico. Nesse aspeto, fazem parte do que pessoalmente classifico como “punk pop de hinos”. As temáticas do quinteto situam-se entre as problemáticas pessoais em confronto com o real e a sociedade de consumo, guerra, amor, paz, ódio, etc… no fundo, todas as causas clássicas do punk.

Achei o concerto dos Decreto 77 muito simpático, e até bom, dentro do seu campo. São uma banda séria e comprometida dentro do que se propôe. Pareceu-me uma boa escolha da organização em os ter elegido para suporte, já que, de alguma forma, e não sendo uma banda do punk extremo e caótico, são isso sim, bastante acessíveis dentro desta tipologia, o que faz sentido num contexto em que o que vêm a seguir é todo um legado musical, mais do que conhecido e reconhecido pelas massas, como é o dos Ramones.

words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Guilherme Lucas

Okoyome: French trio (from Toulose) Okoyome opened Wednesday night at Woodstock 69. The band has ramifications with their countrymen SLIFT, that have also performed at Campanhã’s bar earlier in the year, more precisely to their bassist Rémi, a member of both bands. This time, for reasons connected to SLIFT the bass player was a replacement, named Hugo. Okoyome are going to give several concerts around Portugal, Spain and France to promote their first – and excellent – work, titled after the group.

Live, they demonstrated in an enlightened way that they are three very committed great musicians (the drummer is a giant, for me star of the collective), playing in very frantic and garage performative register, totally at ease, having in consideration that most of this instrumental, is, at various times, of high technical elaboration. When I see a band playing “difficult” things in an uncomplicated way, making it seem very simple and almost banal, I know I’m watching a performance of good musicians. Period.

Okoyome are musically stoner-rock, sludge and doom, making a very interesting and well succeed fusion of those genres. There is also a psychedelic side to their themes, but mostly by the voices, which are of the highest quality (such as SLIFT’s ones), and which send us to landscapes of contemplation and travel (in some aspects very similar to the slower moments we find in most of the The Young Gods’ discography).

Okoyome were a great live surprise … I confess that I went to see them with a raised expectation, exclusively by listening to their first record, but honestly did not expect that they were so exciting live. The kind of band that comforts our soul, in thesense that if you do not see concerts, you sometimes lose gems like these French.

Cheap Tissue: Los Angelinos Cheap Tissue, closed the night. The concert will surely be recorded in the band’s memory for years to come, because of the fainting and fall – presumably caused by an electric shock – of Andrew Taylor, their guitar player/singer. The quartet began to play and because of the incident, fortunately without major consequences for the musician, the performance was immediately stopped to provide the available assistance. It was not possible to know how such situation may have occurred. Among various theories and conjectures, with guitar cables on the mix. With a recovered Taylor the concert carried on normally. Not really, since the band showed the occurrence during all of its performance, as well as part of the audience, including writer of these futureless reviews, perfectly understandable and natural. It was the first time I’ve seen such a situation live, not a pleasant thing to see.

Even though Cheap Tissue gave na as much as possible good concert. The group is musically placed within punk-rock-garage, all of it via Dead Boys, Testors, Vibrators or New York Dolls, and much of guitarist Sonny Vincent’s musical work, a certain punk that could have conquered the whole world in its time (mid 70’s), but that was send to the second division in its evolution to other branches, but still keeping great quality and fidelity to the rock’n’roll  roots  of its kind. If we consider that global punk, in a generic way, has been brutalized in terms of sound over the last decades up until now, the punk I am referring to, Cheap Tissue’s one, is pop with catchy choruses, completely rock ‘ n’roll and nostalgic. It’s root punk. In that sense, it is not unreasonable to consider Cheap Tissue as a current punk-rock revival band.

The band has been touring Europe (France, Spain, Portugal) promoting their debut LP, Cheap Tissue, named after the group. It is a good album within its kind, with some very strong themes, like Hand of Destruction, that has a great chorus and an addictive tempo, or Dirt, totally great punk-rock. They also do a very good cover of New Promotion’s Hubble Bubble, and for me better than the original (up until then I didn’t knew where it come from, bass player John Tyree enlightened me in a very pleasant informal after show conversation ). I thought it was a custom cover of the Ramones’ Oh, Oh, I Love Her So. They also played The Clash’s I’m So Bored With The U.S.A. I did not confirm real motivation with the band, but in these times trumpian the intention seemed obvious to me.

Cheap Tissue are a good band that plays well and are very nice people. It was unfortunate to have met them in an unpleasant situation; I’m left with the conviction that one can see them in the future if they return to Portugal. Shit happens but it’s only rock’n’roll!

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

Okoyome: Os Okoyome, trio francês de Toulose, abriu a noite de quarta-feira, no Woodstock 69. Esta banda tem ramificações com os seus conterrâneos SLIFT, que também já atuaram no bar de Campanhã no início deste ano, mais precisamente ao seu baixista Rémi, que pertence às duas bandas. Desta vez, e por motivos ligados aos SLIFT, o baixista que atuou foi um substituto, de nome Hugo. Os Okoyome andam a dar vários concertos um pouco por Portugal, Espanha e França para promover o seu primeiro – e excelente – trabalho, com o mesmo nome do grupo.
Ao vivo, demonstraram de forma esclarecida, serem três grandes músicos muito comprometidos (o baterista é gigante, para mim o diamante do coletivo), atuando num registo performativo muito garage e frenético, com um enorme à vontade, considerando que muito do seu instrumental, é, em diversos momentos, de alguma elevada elaboração técnica. Quando vejo uma banda a tocar coisas “difíceis” de uma forma descomplicada, fazendo a coisa parecer muito simples e quase banal, sei que estou a assistir a um desempenho de bons músicos. Ponto.

Os Okoyome estão musicalmente dentro do stoner-rock, do sludge e do doom, fazendo uma muito interessante e bem conseguida fusão destes géneros. Há também um lado psicadélico nos seus temas, mas essencialmente por via das vozes, que são de enorme qualidade (como as dos SLIFT), e que nos remete para paisagens de contemplação e de viagem (em alguns aspetos muito similares aos momentos mais lentos que encontramos em muita da discografia de uns The Young Gods).
Os Okoyome foram uma excelente surpresa ao vivo… confesso que já os ia ver com a minha fasquia elevada, exclusivamente por via da escuta do seu primeiro trabalho discográfico, mas sinceramente não contava que fossem tão empolgantes ao vivo. Do tipo de banda que nos conforta a alma, naquele sentido de que se não vais ver concertos, perdes, por vezes, pérolas como estes franceses.

Cheap Tissues: Os norte-americanos, de Los Angeles, Cheap Tissue, encerraram a noite. Este concerto ficará seguramente registado na memória da banda para os anos seguintes, derivado do desmaio e queda – provocado presumivelmente – por um choque elétrico, ao seu guitarrista/vocalista Andrew Taylor. O quarteto começara a atuar e com a ocorrência deste incidente, felizmente sem consequências de maior para o músico, foi imediatamente interrompida a atuação, para se prestar a assistência possível, não se conseguindo perceber como tal situação possa ter ocorrido. Entre várias teorias e conjeturas, com cabos de guitarra à mistura. Com o restabelecimento de Andrew Taylor, o concerto prosseguiu normalmente. Não tanto assim, já que a banda acusou desta ocorrência durante toda a sua atuação, bem como parte do público, incluíndo aqui o escriva destas reviews sem futuro, o que é perfeitamente compreensível e natural. Foi a primeira vez que assisti a uma situação destas ao vivo, e não é algo agradável de se ver.

Os Cheap Tissue, mesmo assim, deram um bom concerto, dentro do possível. O grupo está musicalmente situado no punk-rock-garage, todo ele por via de uns Dead Boys, de uns Testors, de uns Vibrators ou de uns New York Dolls, e de muito do trabalho musical do guitarrista Sonny Vincent, ícone maior de um certo punk que podia ter conquistado, no seu tempo (meados dos anos 70), todo o planeta, mas que foi relegado para a segunda divisão na evolução que este fez para outras ramificações, continuando contudo a ter uma grande qualidade e fidelidade às raízes mais rock’n’roll do seu género. Se considerarmos que o punk global, de forma genérica, se brutalizou em termos sonoros ao longo das últimas décadas até à atualidade, este punk que estou a referir, e que é o dos Cheap Tissue, é pop e de refrões orelhudos, completamente rock’n’roll e nostálgico. É o punk de raiz. Nesse sentido, não é displicente considerar os Cheap Tissue como uma banda revivalista punk-rock nos dias de hoje.

A banda tem estado em tour pela Europa (França, Espanha, Portugal), em promoção do seu LP de estreia com o mesmo nome do grupo, Cheap Tissue. Este é um bom álbum dentro do seu género, com alguns temas muito fortes, como o Hand of Destruction, com um grande refrão e um andamento viciante, ou Dirt, completamente punk-rock do bom. Fazem ainda uma versão do New Promotion dos Hubble Bubble, muito bem conseguida, e para mim melhor que a original, (desconhecia até aquele momento a sua origem, que me foi revelada pelo baixista John Tyree, numa muito agradável conversa informal, após o espetáculo). Pensava que era uma versão personalizada do Oh, Oh, I love her so, dos Ramones. Tocaram também ao vivo o I’m soo bored with the U.S.A., dos The Clash Não confirmei com a banda a real motivação, mas parece-me óbvia a intenção, nestes tempos trumpistas.

Os Cheap Tissue são uma boa banda, tocam bem e é pessoal muito simpático. Foi pena os ter conhecido numa situação desagradável; fica a convicção de os poder ver num futuro, caso voltem aqui ao cantinho. Shit happens but it’s only rock’n’roll!

wrds: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro ); photos: Guilherme Lucas

Matosinhos’ FullSteam started Thursday night at Woodstock 69. Their sound is within heavy rock, mostly through sub-genres like hard rock and blues-rock. The group gave a decent show, despite the collective’s project exhibition some amateurism. If it is undisguisadble they already posess a sound and a genre in which they fit very well. Live, is it undeniable that they’re still a band with lots to improve. What struck me as obvious at once during their performance, is that they are a two-speed quartet: there is a good guitarrist with interesting details through the themes and a charismatic singer who is almost on point,if he leaves behind certain stylistic formatting in his singing.

On the other hand, they have a rhythm section has a lot to improve, especially the somewhat confusing and not very assertive drums. FullSteam are, for the time being, a band showing rock clichés, not all of them yet well achieved and executed, but they demonstrate potential to be able to aim at something bigger within their style. But for that, they must definitely abandon some of their amateur posture, technically sharpening their repertoire and playing more clearly.

It was the third time in three years in a row that Danes Bite The Bullet performed at Woodstock 69. It was the first time I saw them live and the only thing I can say about their performance is that the Porto lived glorious moments of pure rock’n’roll, that will remain forever in the memory of all who were present at Campanhã’s bar. Bite The Bullet are a quartet that practices rock’n’roll within a hard-blues strand, but because they merge other subgenres, their music has many moments that either refer us to The Stooges or Led Zeppelin, through much of the of English and American rock heritage from the 70s and ending up in musical fields that are surprising because they are unexpected (I have even identified Roxy Music somewhere in their sound).

Live, Bite The Bullet are a very well-oiled and perfect music machine in a fuzz-pop-psychedelic registry, with real songs, with an unusual ability to interact with the audience and completely deliver in concert. They managed to literally sit down on the floor, in a rare posture (I can only remember something similar, from over two decades Buddy Guy come to something similar in Porto’s Coliseu, in a somewhat different situation … Buddy Guy was a blues-man, what the hell). The discography of the collective is of great quality, within its genre, already having categorical a sharpened creativity to perform some very strong themes (read hits) such as My Soul or Home.
A great voice, excellent backing vocals, precise instruments of very good taste within their style, make this Copenhagen band one ideal to enjoy excellent rock on any night of our life. That was what happened. Bite the Bullet – who are currently touring Europe – gave one of the best concerts I have seen at Woodstock 69. They are already in my top 5.

 

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

Os FullSteam, banda de Matosinhos, iniciaram a noite de quinta-feira no Woodstock 69. O seu som está dentro do rock pesado, essencialmente por via de subgéneros como o hard-rock e o blues-rock. O grupo ofereceu um espetáculo decente, pese a demonstração ainda de algum amadorismo no projeto do coletivo. Se é indesmentível que já tem um som e um género em que se enquadram muito bem, é notório ao vivo que são ainda uma banda com muitos aspetos para melhorar. O que me pareceu desde logo óbvio, durante toda a sua atuação, é que são um quarteto a duas velocidades: tem um bom guitarrista, com pormenores interessantes ao longo dos temas, e um vocalista carismático, que está quase no ponto, se deixar para trás alguma formatação estilística na forma como canta. Por outro lado possuem uma secção rítmica que tem ainda muito espaço para ser melhor trabalhada, principalmente a parte da bateria, que se mostrou algo confusa e pouco assertiva. Os FullSteam são, por enquanto, uma banda de exercício de clichés rock, nem todos eles ainda bem conseguidos e executados, mas que demonstram potencial para conseguir ambicionar algo maior dentro do seu estilo. Mas para isso, tem de abandonar definitivamente alguma da postura amadora, apurando tecnicamente o seu repertório e atuando com mais esclarecimento

É já a terceira vez que os dinamarqueses Bite The Bullet se apresentam ao vivo no Woodstock 69, em três anos seguidos. Foi a primeira vez que os vi ao vivo e a única coisa que posso dizer sobre a sua atuação é que o Porto viveu momentos gloriosos de puro rock’n’roll, que permanecerão eternamente na memória de todos os que estiveram presentes no bar de Campanhã. Os Bite The Bullet são um quarteto que pratica rock’n’roll dentro de uma vertente hard-blues, mas porque fazem fusão de outros subgéneros, encontram-se na sua música muitos momentos que tanto nos remetem para os The Stooges ou os Led Zeppelin, passando por muita da herança do rock inglês e norte-americano dos 70 e terminando em campos musicais que são surpreendentes, pois inesperados (até identifiquei Roxy Music algures no seu som, vejam lá). Os Bite The Bullet são uma máquina de fazer música, muito bem oleada e perfeita ao vivo, em registo fuzz-pop-psicadélico, e com verdadeiras canções, com uma capacidade invulgar de interagir com o público e de entrega completa em concerto. Conseguiram sentar literalmente todo o público presente no chão, numa postura rara de se ver (só me recordo de algo semelhante, e há mais de duas décadas, o Buddy Guy ter chegado a algo semelhante no Coliseu do Porto, em situação algo distinta… mas o Buddy Guy era um bluesman, que diabo). A discografia do coletivo é de grande qualidade, dentro do seu género, tendo já um categórico apuro criativo para a realização de alguns temas bastante fortes (vulgo hits), como é o caso de My Soul ou Home).
Uma grande voz, excelentes coros e todo um instrumental certeiro e de muito bom gosto, dentro do seu estilo, fazem desta banda de Copenhaga, uma das ideais para se usufruir de excelente rock numa qualquer noite desta vida. Foi isso que aconteceu. Os Bite the Bullet – que estão atualmente em tour europeia – deram um dos melhores concertos a que tenho vindo a assistir no Woodstock 69. Já estão nesse meu top 5.

 

 

words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Guilherme Lucas

Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs gave their second concert of the Portuguse leg of their European last Wednesday night at Maus Hábitos called the King of Cowards Tour exactly the name of his latest work – King of Cowards – released this month. Therefore, promotion concerts and to mitigate longing since it is a return to Portugal.
Going exclusively with the set list chosen by the band for this show in Porto, I will say, without any doubt or hesitation, that I was in front of a sludge 100% band. Listening carefully to their discography that is fully confirmed, although there are other directions, towards other genres in it, as in the case of stoner rock, hard/metal, hardcore punk and some psychedelic. The orwellian 7xPigs are, in such regard, a very happy crossing of those several categories. They are convincing.

The concert of the collective at Maus Hábitos was always on a single tone and a single speed: extremely physical, very sweaty and devastating. As one wants it to be. Everyone in the audience appreciated the band’s attitude and posture. The “orwellian”7xPigs offered the audience a very good concert.

For me, and resorting to my memory palace and my formative memory live the band can very eloquently both sound to Motorhead or Rollins Band/Black Flag (via Black Sabbath) …   only because of voice and brutal performance of their vocalist, Matt Batty, a real stage animal. The man manages to be a well-conceived simulacrum between Lemmy’s voice and Henry Rollins’ legendary performances, but with a tattoosless body. Other than that, i tis all there. Matt Baty screams and screams as if there is no future and no hope … I have very few people succeed in doing tso with class and range. He achieves it in an unquestionable way. His band comrades are also very cohesive and willful in the manner they instrumentally insure the apocalyptic and almost suffocating sound vertigo of each played theme. These 7x Pigs are categorically a hardcore band in the way they expose their most extreme emotions to the audience. Without being surprised by their performance (perhaps because I was already waiting for it), they were able to play deep in my heart of darkness. These pigs are very recommendable.

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

Os ingleses (de Newcastle), Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, deram, nos Maus Hábitos, na passada quarta-feira, o seu segundo concerto em terras lusas, da sua presente tour europeia – denominada de “King of Cowards Tour” – exatamente o nome do seu último trabalho – King of Cowards – lançado este mês. Concertos de divulgação, portanto, e para matar saudades, já que é um regresso ao cantinho.

Baseando-me exclusivamente na set list escolhida pela banda para este seu espetáculo na Invicta, direi, sem qualquer margem para dúvida ou hesitação, que estive perante uma banda 100% de tipologia sludge. Escutando atentamente a sua discografia, isso é plenamente confirmado, embora exista na mesma outras incursões a outros géneros, como é o caso do stoner rock, o hard/metal, o punk hardcore e algum psicadelismo. Os 7xPigs são, nesse aspeto, um muito feliz cruzamento destas várias categorias. São convincentes.
O concerto do coletivo nos Maus Hábitos foi sempre de um só registo e de uma única velocidade: extremamente físico, muito suado e devastador. Como se quer. E toda a assistência agradeceu essa atitude e postura, por parte da banda. Foi um muito bom concerto, aquele com que os 7xPigs “orwellianos” brindaram todo o público presente.

Para mim, e recorrendo ao meu baú de memórias mais queridas e formativas, a banda tanto consegue soar ao vivo a Motorhead como a Rollins Band/Black Flag (por via Black Sabbath), de forma muito eloquente… e tudo unicamente, e só, pela voz e a performance brutal do seu vocalista, Matt Batty, um autêntico animal de palco. O homem consegue ser um simulacro muito bem engendrado entre a voz de um Lemmy e as atuações lendárias de um Henry Rollins, mas num corpo sem tatuagens. De resto, está lá tudo. Matt Baty berra e grita como se não houvesse futuro nem esperança… tenho visto muitos poucos a conseguirem fazer isto com classe e amplitude. Ele consegue-o de forma inquestionável. E os outros camaradas de banda são também muito coesos e voluntariosos na forma como seguram instrumentalmente a vertigem sonora, apocalíptica e quase sufocante de cada um dos temas interpretados. Estes 7x Pigs são categoricamente uma banda hardcore na forma como expôem ao público as suas mais extremas emoções. Sem me terem surpreendido com a sua atuação (talvez porque já a esperava nestes moldes), conseguiram tocar fundo no meu coração das trevas. Muito aconselháveis estes porcos.

words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Guilherme Lucas

Witch Sin – Mirandela, Trás-os-Montes’ stoner rock trio Witch Sin, opened the night, at Woodstock 69 the rentreé with  Americans Yawning Man (Official) as headliners. The band gave a very effective and decent concert, still with some edges to round. If commitment and instrumental mastery are undeniable when it comes to sound and aesthetic in which they wander (stoner rock with some psychedelic/environmental tones, especially some of the themes intros), it is also true that they still lack some fluidity in the connection between distinct movements of their songs – in some cases even showing some brief confusion and nervousness – which I presume will be solved with future concerts. It will be useful to correct those small incongruities. As a final note, and because it was a very efficient opening from a small band to a larger band, the audience showed its delight with losts of applause.

Yawning Man – Californians Yawning Man, a seminal band and living legend of desert rock (that decisively influenced the whole emerging stoner rock scene in the late 1980s), gave a great in their single national one before an admiring and respectful audience of their, by the end clearly grateful for the irreproachable performance. Therefore, with the venue practically filled with people that knew what they were looking for Woodstock deserves to be congratulated for bringing this important and historic group to Portugal.

Fortunately, live, Yawning Man showed to be multifaceted group of distinct trends. Thier discography shows it: different musical phases with varied sound textures, but with the same quality and gender mark. Practically, if we except the three final themes (more accelerated and powerful stoner rock), the whole show was within an environmental/psychedelic register and with a rhythmic cadence – more slow than fast. The trio displayed an undeniable sonority that remits to shoegaze (yes, shoegaze, not a mistake), mostly because of their guitarist, Gary Arce, master of an unusual thumb technique that performs magnifically, on a more environmental than psychedelic typology that fills the collective entire sound. While all the “pile” of desert rock/stoner bands make Black Sabbath solos and the like, Yawning Man indicate other unusual sound and aesthetic possibilities within the stoner universe, but no less interesting. This is what sets them apart: while currently stoner rock is practically depleted and has nearly no revitalization ability Yawning Man take a unique path. Maybe because they its parents, but also because they realized long ago that they can set different paths, without ever losing the already achieved credibility. They are also part of a generation of controversial and unique musicians and personalities since they have always been associated to the breath of artists from SST Records, Black Flag’s record label. That counts, and a lot, to understand the versatility of the group in terms of tastes and influences in their music.

This was a show that will surely remain in the future memory of many, not only for its excellence, filled with many good moments of great quality, but also because it was the one where the bar’s room temperature was (almost) the same as the desert’s one. It was a great concert at the Woodstock, with the prospect of another handful of good concerts until the end of the year

 

texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

O trio de stoner rock transmontano (de Mirandela), Witch Sin, abriu a noite, na rentreé do bar Woodstock 69 com os norte-americanos Yawning Man (Official) como cabeça-de-cartaz. A banda deu um concerto muito eficaz e decente, mas ainda com algumas arestas a limar. Se é inegável o comprometimento e o domínio instrumental, no espetro sonoro e estético em que vagueiam (stoner rock com alguns laivos psicadélicos/ambientais, principalmente nos intros de alguns dos seus temas), também não é menos verdade que ainda revelaram alguma falta de fluidez na ligação entre andamentos distintos das suas músicas – em alguns casos até mesmo alguma breve confusão e nervosismo – que presumo, venham a ser sanados, com futuros concertos, que serão úteis para corrigir certamente estas pequenas incongruências. Como nota final, e porque foi uma abertura muito eficiente de uma banda pequena para com uma maior, o público presente deu mostras do seu agrado, com bastantes aplausos

Os californianos Yawning Man (Official), banda seminal e lenda viva do desert rock (que influenciou determinantemente toda a cena de stoner rock emergente nos finais dos anos 80), deram um excelente concerto no Woodstock 69, em data única nacional, com um público admirador e respeitador do seu som e claramente agradecido, no final, com a atuação irrepreensível. Por isso, e com a casa praticamente cheia de quem sabia ao que ia, o Woodstock está de parabéns por ser responsável pela vinda deste importante e histórico grupo ao nosso país.

Os Yawning Man revelaram ao vivo ser um grupo (felizmente) multifacetado e de tendências distintas. A sua discografia revela isso mesmo: diferentes fases musicais com texturas sonoras variadas, mas com a mesma marca de qualidade e de género. Praticamente, se excetuarmos os três temas finais (mais stoner rock acelerado e poderoso), todo o espetáculo foi dentro de um registo ambiental/psicadélico e em ritmo cadenciado – mais para o lento do que para o rápido. O trio exibiu uma inegável sonoridade que remete para o shoegaze (sim, shoegaze, não é erro), muito devido aos solos do seu guitarrista, Gary Arce, dono de uma invulgar técnica de polegar, e que os executa de forma magnífica, de tipologia mais ambiental do que psicadélica, e que preenchem na totalidade o som do coletivo. Enquanto todo o “monte” de bandas de desert rock/stoner fazem os solos à la Black Sabbath e afins, estes Yawning Man indicam outras possibilidades sonoras e estéticas pouco comuns no universo stoner, mas não menos interessantes. E é nisto que são distintos: enquanto este está praticamente esgotado e com muita pouca capacidade revitalizadora na atualidade, os Yawning Man fazem o seu caminho de forma única. Talvez porque sejam os pais da mesma, mas também porque perceberam há muito que podem determinar caminhos diferentes, sem nunca perderem a credibilidade já alcançada. Fazem parte também de uma geração de músicos e personalidades polémicas e singulares, pois sempre estiveram associados ao leque de artistas da editora SST Records, dos Black Flag. Isso conta, e muito, para se entender a versatilidade do grupo a nível de gostos e influências várias na sua música.
Este foi um espetáculo que certamente ficará para memória futura de muitos, não só pela sua excelência, recheado de muitos bons momentos de enorme qualidade, mas também porque foi aquele onde a temperatura ambiente no bar era (quase) igual à de um deserto. Foi uma grande rentreé do Woodstock, com a perspetiva de mais um punhado de bons concertos até ao final do ano

PHARAOH OVERLORD – Great concert given by Finnish band Pharaoh Overlord afternoon Sunday on palco Piscina on the last day of the Millhões. The band is no less than the five Circle’s members (that have played Milhões two days ago), this time with a different posture and sound proposal. They wandered, carburazing for an hour between four themes carved with wisdom and enlightenment, and at the same time with the simplicity of the essential and the strict discipline with which they played. Of strong krautrock inclination (all the rhythms were from the motorik), there was a careful and laborious execution by strings, within the aesthetic logic mentioned above of stretching to the maximum the possibilities of creation, largely by improvisation (this was, confirmed to me by guitarist Jane Westerlund). The result was expected that is, the continuous sensation of being on a mental journey through the Cosmos, between the environmental and the psychedelic, where at times because of slight alterations of intensities, mainly by tonal alteration of the bass, explosions of energy are described. Music to be listened to preferably with closed eyes and swinging the body to its rhythm. In the end, the quintet was effusively applauded by the audience and the musicians also showed their contentment for a performance at all levels exemplary. At Milhões my early afternoons are always good.

JOHNNY HOOKER – The greatest magic, sometimes larger than life itself, occurred splendidly late Sunday afternoon on palco Piscina. Johnny Hooker, the Pernambuco native that is making a rage and conquering the “world” in a meteoric fashion, renewing current MPB, is a star more luminous than the Sun, and for whom I lack adjectives to describe it. For that very reason, I will not do it, urgently inviting those who do not know it yet, know him as his music to get to know it. Listening to his voice, rarest in its excellence, less than a meter from his presence, where all his rebellion is exposed in his courageous and audacious transgressive performance, is an experience that, when his name will be referred to in the future, I will never Forget. Johnny Hooker is an activist of the Brazilian LGBT movement, assumed homosexual, and through his lyrics and songs is giving rise to a whole controversial context of support, but also of fierce protest with which he is growing in public exposure and media levels. The Brazilian, a mix between David Bowie, Madonna and Caetano Veloso, as he himself describes his greatest influences, that made him what he is today, is one of those chosen, through his art, to change small worlds, since nobody changes the World. His success already proves it. One might ask: but is it because he is gay and a LGBT activist, or does this recognition lies only in his artistic side? I have concluded from his extraordinary, already legendary concert at Milhões that it is both. Also from a brief informal conversation with the artist, but if he has to be just one of them, the answer is: the art. No one is adored or appreciated without a gift; without some level of quality. And that Johnny Hooker has in spades for decades to come. Currently, he is already the future of MPB.  Many thanks Milhões for placing putting him on the line-up. Concerts like this save the day … P.S. : I was never  a Bowie’s fan and never understood the worship that more than half of the world has for his Ziggy Stardust phase. Now I understand them.

THE HELIOCENTRICS – This English band is, of all the ones that I have in Milhões the easiest one to be described regarding their sound. They are absolutely all that one wants to glue to them when it comes to genres (except rock’n’roll, blues, punk and metal); that aside, here, anything goes. They are jazz, experimental, electronic, folk, krautrock, environmental, psychedelic, funk, trip-hop, world music … anyway, the group has practically no stylistic borders and it is impossible to catalog them with one genre. The band clearly assumes this aesthetic attitude of not having an aesthetic, but several. In the show they played on palco Milhões, I identified the played themes an insistence on trip-hop, jazz, space-rock textures and mantric voices (with many similarities to the folkloric chorus The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices) … but others come to mind. The group consists of excellent musicians who guarantee consistency and a remarkable involvement of their themes. And its singer, Just B, the one upon whom all the attention is concentrated, develops an elegant and restrained performance; without major changes. She expresses herself more with the voice than with the body. Here there is clearly a defined posture. They gave a great concert, where the psychedelic aesthetics/ trip to the Cosmos images projected in the background scenery fully worked out as an adjuvant of the music. Between themes the audience always showed its it was pleased. In the end, with insistent applause the band returned to an encore of a theme. Of all the bands I saw it the first time I watched one in Milhões. Totally deserved.

OS TUBARÕES – The legendary and veteran Cabo Verde group was a sure choice to end Milhões in celebration the Millions on the stage with the same name. Very well known in our culture for its popularity among our fellow countrymen and others, derived in great part by the cultural and affective ties that unite the two countries in the pre and post Portuguese decolonization, afterwards and until now by the reality of the immigration of its citizens to our country, the group of Cidade da Praia does not require great presentations. Everyone knows (at least) that they are one of the major representatives of funaná, coladeras and mornas, inside and outside CaboVerde. Therefore, ambassadors. I retained two aspects that pleased me a lot from the concert: their music is completely up-to-date, modern in its interpretation, in a way that surprised me a lot. I confess I was initially going with the pre-conceived idea that something vintage and dated might be heard, given the age of its members; it did not happen at all. I found them profoundly magical interpreting the mornas. There were moments when I had shivers, what a strange thing … I think it’s nostalgia. Musicians of excellence and very good taste in the execution of the arrangements of the themes, and a magnificent voice, with a warm and distinctive tone, with a very accurate alignment of themes, it was not difficult to grab the audience from the first theme until the end. They were allowed to do as they pleased with the audience, and it showed visible in the way the audience already reacted to their movements: funaná and coladeras: immediate dancing; mornas: sighs and a tear … It was with a ball of enormous quality with which Milhões toasted everyone present. Everybody was dancing where there was room for it, it was beautiful to watch it. And for the second time, I attended the second encore of a band at the festival. Milhões 2018 ended with a flourish.

 

words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translate by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Rafael Farias &  Renato Cruz Santos.

 

original text: https://www.facebook.com/events/880971952100146/permalink/957108184486522/

GG RAMONE’s JOURNAL @ Milhões de Festa 2018, Day 3: Vaiapraia & As Rainhas do Baile, PÉ ROTO, Greengo, Gazelle Twin, Nubya Garcia, Electric Wizard, 08.09.2018.

VAIAPRAIA & AS RAINHAS DO BAILE – Its been some time I was looking to see a Vaiapraia’s concert and Milhões made it possible. I find his 2016’s album, 1755, a small gem, still a bit hidden, and punch in the gut of the politically correct, the courage of assuming differences face up in a society of eternal facades. For quick clarification those who may not know who he is. In a very synthetic way, I will say that he is a new emerging pop/rock national star, one of those able to do catcht songs, covered by a crude instrumentention, not to give itself up … and that he writes with determination, and a rare daring about his sexual orientation – which is not that of “good manners” – his love issues and problems. There aren’t many artists like Vaiapraia in this country; a handful or not even so. There is much more to him than someone who writes great songs that are extraordinary in their stylistic field. Vaiapraia represents all those who struggle daily to maintain their freedom and their well-being above water, often suffocated and postponed by a moldy morale of constant bullyings. It is, to a large extent, all that rock’n’roll in essence is. It is in his lyrics that all his struggle for his difference is shaped; the attitude of brave resistance, in a very crude, almost basic and humorous description of his feelings and thoughts. His descriptions are disarming and very direct, bluntly, almost brutalizing and scandalous; it is impossible to be indifferent: either one hates him, or one loves him. Tthe artist’s concert, held in the bandstand of Jardim 5 de Outubro – one of the daily concerts that are held outside the festival grounds – meet my best expectations. Vaiapraia is a stage animal, scandalous, impudent, and with na enormous capacity not to care about the shock it can cause to many. He is  a sort of Portuguese Little Richard. Where the American star (a classic rock’n’roll hero) took off his shows and ludicrously displayed them, Vaiapraia defiantly displays his socks. The sound of the band is purely and simply garage rock, punk pop, with even some forays to psychpunk. Musically it works perfectly, coupled with a lascivious, non-sense and fun, that captures attention. What a great early afternoon, I thought to myself.

PÉ ROTO – Braga’s Pé Roto started the hostilities the best way on palco Taina on the third day of Milhões, included in the special line-up that handed by SWR Barroselas Metalfest. The idea is that SWR invites bands they support to present themselves live Milhões’ audience . Obviously this context is that of the “bottom of the pit” and of exile; only “extreme” heavy bands enter the house. Pé Roto are masters in the execution of a slow and brutal sound, between doom and sludge, accurate and deep, and because of it, one of the current best national bands within their style. I met them a few months ago, at a concert they gave at Woodstock 69 bar in Porto, and I become an almost instantaneous fan of the band. This time, the group was just like itself, from the impression I had of them before, but playing for a much larger and more diverse audience, which I believe, will serve them very positively to further publicize their project. They are all good musicians and dominate in an enlightened way the musical aesthetics they represent. There is depth in their lyrics, all obscure and in some cases very strong on a suggestive level, as it happens about Braga in Bracara-vitae: Perdido nesta Bracara Angústia, Amarras que me prendem ao fundo do poço (Lost in this Bracara Anguish, Moorings that hold me to the bottom of the well), or Faço a última sopa num culto à folha sagrada, rodo o paiva ao Diabo, mas dou-lhe uma ponta rafada! (I do a last soup in a cult of the sacred leaf, squeeze the devil, but I give him a worn out tip! in Fumar & Beber. I consider them heirs of much of Maõ Morta’s raw, dense spirit to their city, but in a musically distinct style. Different generations, different musical styles … but similar in the same registry of debauchery and loss.

GREENGO – Pé Roto were followed by Greengo. Unlike the previous band, that I only come across at a later date, I have been a fan of this Porto’s band since their first concert in Porto. I find this duo simply fantastic and wrecking in its sound. They are two extraordinary musicians, one in the drums (Chaka) and the other in the voice and bass (Pedro Martelo) … and together they can obtain a completely overwhelming sound, enormous and quite intelligent in a very varied dosage of intensities and rhythmic movements, which impresses those who see them live. I consider Greengo to be a revitalized (or if you prefer, crossover) fusion band within all the more radical sub-genres of heavy and distorted sound of the last decades. They are doom, sludge and industrial; they smell like Motorhead mixed with Sepultura, Killing Joke with Discharge, so the list is immense … As for their concert in Milhões, it was exactly in the same registry as always: they take no prisoners and gloriously imposed their law upon all those present who watched – surrended – to such sound colossus. Great show from a top band. Bring on the next one.

GAZELLE TWIN – Elizabeth Bernholz, a British artist, who uses the stage name Gazelle Twin, performed on Palco Milhões on Saturday night. Her musical project, which is part of contemporary electronic music, in a more avant-garde way, and that has received rave reviews from several sides of the specialized music press, is not easily accessible as a whole because of its proposal, which is about exploring new languages. When this happens (and it always does), there are those who fall in love with something that can make a difference, or those who, on the other hand, cannot find something sensible to presently deserve their attention. It is in such context that I analyze the Briton show in Millhões. I expected more from her performance. Much more, by the way. Not so much from her music – that has undeniably revitalizing aspects – but more for the design of the show presented. I identified imbalances, aspects that should be more fluid. There are very interesting moments, but many others are somewhat disengaged in its continuity and that do not fully work out; there are still rough edges that need to be rounded in order to offer a more vibrant and accessible show to an whole audience, and not only to those who seek only  musical novelty, underestimating a live performance as something different and important as dissemination of new concepts. Even because I noticed many musical suggestions in Gazelle Twin, like Bjork or Laurie Anderson, among others, and that readopted to the artist’s language turned out well and perfectly consumable. To conclude, I will say that the alignment of the themes chosen jeopardized the clarification of the project live.

NUBYA GARCIA – It was an enormous concert given by the artist, assisted by a trio of brilliant musicians, offered to the audience on palco Milhões. It was a perfect concert in its entirety. There were no lessen moments; all were great, liberating and therapeutic. Nubya is an exceptional saxophonist; just by listening, you will understand how divine she is. All the other musicians who accompany her are on the same level. They are a perfect jazz orchestra, turned into quartet. Already regarded as one of the newest afrojazz names, the group performed at every moment of the concert in such a way that the music they built was nothing but natural and vibrant and extremely enjoyable to be listened to. The saxophonist very nicely  thanked the audience on several occasions its warm reception to the band and expressed how happy she was to be in Milhões. Thank you, Nubya!

ELECTRIC WIZARD – British band Eletric Wizard were the catchier name of Milhões’ third day  One that would gather the greatest interest of the audience that came by Saturday. This cult band, once more at the festival, has returned to show how it defends its credits on stage. By that point the show was what was expected: musically very solid and flawless. I confess that the band far exceeded my expectations, that may be beneath the band’s staunch fans ones. In that regard, things went well for me; It’s always good to have good surprises. The group is an expert practitioner of doom-sludge sounds, with streaks of stoner doom and some acid rock added to the mix. Two things I keep from the band and that I thank them: the solos they perform are good, and are as short as they need not to annoy. I quite enjoyed their mentor’s, Jim Oborn, voice tone, perfect for the genre they play, since it is melodic enough to allow for what is being sang to be understood. If one understands the band that is being talked about is essentially one that boils down to the hail to Satan trilogy, weed and I drink your blood, I realized that they are also a good live band. And let there be no doubt about it. Let it be mentioned that the audience deserved an encore from the band, after the end of the performance. Even because it was an impeccable concert, and that, I would like to believe, pleased most people.

words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translate by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Marcelo Baptista & Rafael Farias.

 

original text: https://www.facebook.com/events/880971952100146/permalink/956430897887584/

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