Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

Tinariwen, Casa da Música, Porto, 25.05.2025.

© Mondo Bizarre Magazine/Marcos Leal

words: Raquel Pinheiro; photos: Marcos Leal

Malian band Tinariwen arrived to Porto after the release of the compilation album Idrache (Traces of the Past).

Tinariwen means desert people, or people of the desert, Tamasheq. The band born in the borders of Argel and Mali in 1979, brought their assuf (longing, or longing for home), that we know as desert blues, to Porto.And what a concert it was.

Starting slow with Azawad, soon there was dancing and clapping from the stage, incentivinzing the audience to follow.

However, even if people were rocking on their seats, it would took an hour and twenty minutes for the room to stand up and dance.

By the encore, during Afric Temdam, Sastanaqam and Chaghaybou the front of the stage was filled with dancing people.On the other hand, the clapping and diverse vocals sounds from the audience to the stage stayed a staple during the performance.

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The way the band uses guitars, divided between acoustic and electric, at times for electric guitars, on stage, in conjunction with the electric bass and traditional percussion is extraordinary. No instrument submerges another.

Tinariwen music is sublime. Transcendent. The songs are sang in Tamasheq, their feelings, the emotions, the soul fulfillment, universal.

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

Acid Mothers Temple, Espaço Lovers & Lollypops, Porto, 30.04.2025.

words: Telma Mota (edited by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota

After selling out the schedule 7pm show, Japanese band Acid Mothers Temple performed a 5pm slot that we attended.

Acid Mothers Temple have a psychedelic edge and a strong influence from 60s garage rock. The band was celebrating their 30th career anniversary, showcasing the best of their portfolio—rich in Beatle-esque melodies interspersed with powerful drums, and guitar improvisations brilliantly delivered by their guitarist and leader, Makoto Kawabata.

Under the motto “Do what you want, don’t do what you don’t want,” Acid Mothers Temple played a series of memorable tracks that echoed freedom and their unique way of seeing the world.

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The band closed the concert in unison with an enthusiastic audience, performing a rendition of The Beatles’ Hey Jude in honor of their openly declared admiration for the British band. What a beautiful moment it was!

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

The Horrors, Hard Club, Porto, 09.04.2025

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

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

An immense density of everything.
The Horrors playing just like themselve. What was to be expected, was.

Alternative neo-ghotic rock, with guitar noise typical of garage rock and indie-punk, mixed with very present and intense keyboardsll, another characteristic of neo-psychedelia, together with the low light and the smog created by the artificial smoke originated a favorable and appropriate environment for the sound performed by the band.

Faris Badwan writhes clinging to the tripod that supports the microphone as if it was supporting himself too He swings a little, stumbling and ecstatic as he shouts the lyrics with in his very characteric voice. Faris barely speaks to the audience. That is part of the band’s style and idiosyncrasies.

The songs followed, one after the other. Starting with Silence That Remains, Three Decades, and Mirrors Image, until Who Can Say.

The intense strob was too present, overshadowing everything, and so annoying that it forced you to close your eyes and look away from the stage. Drummer Joe Spurgeon could barely be seen, or glimpsed through the shadows.

It was almost impossible to focus on the stage for an entire song due to the successive lightning strikes. In my opinion, it almost ruined everything. The only reason it didn’t, was because, musically, the concert was immaculate.

For lovers of the genre, The Horrors have very well structured songs and of a singular beauty and their last album – Night Life, is a good, very well done, record. During the encore they played three songs: Lotus Eater, Scarklet Fields and Something to Remember Me By
.
Outside, the warm air of the night relieved my tired eyes.

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

The Legendary Tigerman, Casa da Música, 01.04.2025

Mondo Bizarre Magazine/Marcos Leal

words: Paulo Carmona (edited by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Marcos Leal

A gentleman is always a gentleman, and rock’n’roll is no exception.The Legendary Tigerman, Paulo Furtado’s pseudonym, is a well of talent. He is a performance artist par excellence and has the ability to surpass himself. We see it again and again, but we always expect something magical to happen. And it did!

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An almost sold out Sala Suggia, dressed up to welcome the hottest rocker Portugal and his much-cherished women from Femina, on the 15th anniversary of the iconic album. A memorable evening that moved me to the limits of the most insolent glamour of my youth. This wonderful ability of rock’n’roll never ceases to seduce and amaze.

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Phoebe Killdeer, Maria de Medeiros, Rita Red Shoes, Claudia Efe and her partner – Sara Badalo – brought the intended charm and sensuality only within the reach of the Ladies of rock.Helena Coelho, who will be the mother of Paulo’s child in a few months, was also called to the stage to perform Summertime, alongside Ray.

The songs of Femina were played in full with an enviable technical rigor, with adjustments here and there. There was still room left for songs such as Keep it Burning, New Love and Ghost Rider, from the album Zeitgeist (2023).

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April Fools’ Day was rammed by the truth of rock’n’roll, which continues to be the fountain of youth for many like Paulo Furtado.The bar was risen again. This year is promising!

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Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

Mão Morta, Casa da Música, Porto, 30.03.2025

© Mondo Bizarre Magazine/Telma Mota

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

“Good evening. Welcome to the spectrum of fascism” – This is how Adolfo Luxúria Canibal greeted the audience at Casa da Música, after several songs from Viva La Muerte, their new conceptual nine songs album being performed.

Adolfo, the band, and male choir were dressed as if part of a revolutionary movement. Adolfo, with an assertive stance, standing on a platform, gestured, and, with his deep, hoarse voice, recited the songs’ lyrics like a speech, akin to a political rally.

Mondo Bizarre Magazine/Telma Mota

It was, undoubtedly, a highly political concert. That is not new for Mão Morta, but not in the fashion of Viva La Muerte. In reality we live in, with, the rise of far-right movements, and the establishment of oligarchies and totalitarian regimes. With Viva La Muerte Mão Morta reaffirm themselves even more as a band of political and social intervention.

The band perfectly reproduced the stylistic variations of the album, ranging from the folk/jazz influences of Liberdade to the doom-like tones of Pensamento Único. Between songs, various recordings of thinkers, philosophers, and revolutionaries, such as Tim Leary and Angela Davis, further emphasized the political context of the show.

The concert followed the album’s sequence, opening with Deus Pátria Autoridade with its choral voices, and closing with Viva La Muerte!, the title track. Thus, the finale echoed with the sentence “Ninguém nasceu para ser servil e morrer” (“Nobody was born to be servile and die”)repeated until the last chord—a final message to take home and into life.

Viva La Muerte:
01: Deus Pátria Autoridade
02: Corre Corre Corre
03: É Proibido
04: Ressentidos e Ressabiados
05: A Liberdade
06: Pensamento Único
07: Líder Povo Nação
08: Ratoeira Bélica
09: Viva La Muerte!

Mão Morta are:
Adolfo Luxúria Canibal (vocals)
Miguel Pedro (drums, electronics)
Antonio Rafael (keyboards, electronics)
Vasco Vaz (guitar)
Ruca Lacerda (guitar, percussion, drums)
Rui Leal (bass, double bass)

Choir:
Fernando Pinheiro (conductor)
Jorge Barata
Lucas Lopes
Paulo Santos Silva
Tiago Regueiras

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews

Gavin Friday, Hard Club, Porto, 21.03.2025

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words: Paulo Carmona (edited by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Marcos Leal

The dark, rainy night seemed to have been ordered on purpose for the recital of strong emotions and deep feelings that would adorn room Sala Dois of Hard Club.

And who better than an experience, talented and, above all, theatrical musician to deliver.

Gavin Friday was thar man. Coming from the late 70s the post-punk, founding member of the legendary Virgin Prunes – pioneer band that inspired many alternative music projects – Gavin presented Ecce Homo, his most recent solo work.

Ecce Homo is impregnated with love, longing, loss, lamentations, anguish and strong experiences. An ellipse of throbbing emotions.

However, despite this lyrical density, the musicality is exciting. Curious!

Electro rock’n’roll, with many hints of liturgical music and traces of industrial experimentalism, delivered with very different dynamics. Be it powerful and melodic rises, or accentuated descents, at times abrupt, at times contemplative. It makes your skin crawl several times, and forces to you to stretch your neck and close your eyes to feel all of its refined and majestic enchantment.

It was a magnificent performance, in which songs from Ecce Homo predominating, such as: Lovesubzero, Ecce Homo and Lamento, an intense song, in which he recalls the loss of his mother. Virgin Prunes songs like such Sandpaper Lullaby and Caucasian Walk were also played.

I left there thinking that the bar was too high for this year. What next?…

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

Calexico Trio,Casa da Música, Porto, 04.02.2025

© Sara Oliveira/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

Spring Came Earlier

words: Paulo Carmona (edited by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Sara Oliveira

Spring came earlier. It was not announced. It arrived and that was it.

How good it was to be at Casa da Música, in the immense filled Suggia room to savour Calexico. If there is a band that can transmit the warmth, sun, and swing of a spring night, even from within a room, in the middle of winter, it’s Calexico. Joy and well-being was a constant throughout the concert. Joey Burns was at his best, and the result was a perfect interaction between band and audience. Believe it or not, there was dialogue and direct translation mode singing during My Love Don’t Leave Me Now. It was cute and very funny to watch.

The band created and conceived by Joey Burns and John Convertino, came with Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, vocals, occasionally harmonica, an excellent multi-instrumentalist musician, super competent and very relaxed. As for Joey & John, is it even worthy mentioning? Everything that comes from them is always magical and infinitely majestic. A symbiosis, a synergy of talents.

© Sara Oliveira/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

Calexico opened with Don Quixote and Gypsi’s Curse, Epic and Glimpse and went around through alleys and melodic paths where styles ranging from folk to rock’n’roll intersect.Joey Burns continues to be an affable and friendly communicator. A born and very experienced entertainer. As always accompanied by his folk guitar called Amália Rodrigues.

Spring came earlier.

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concerts of the Year, Raquel Pinheiro, Records of the Year

Best of 2024

My best of 2024 are records, concerts, a book and an exhibition that filled my soul, touched me, or left a strong impression. Art forms that early this year still resonate, and remain close to my heart.

In late April 2024 I wrote an essay with Deep Emotions, a single from Good Grief, Bernard Butler third solo album and his first in 25 years as starting point. It was my second essay for Mondo. Along with, earlier in 2024, the listening parties of Rafael Toral’s Spectral Evolution it was the beginning of marvels, emotional perils and tribulations, and new paths.

The albums by Rafael and Bernard are healing records. Basalto merges melancholia, drama, romanticism. Vini Reilly is a Record Store Day re-issue of the 1989 album by Durutti Column. If there is a musician, composer, guitarist that has been with me since I’m a kid and has an influence how I see, approach, the electric guitar, Vini Reilly is him. I become aware of Ned Swarbrick when Bernard made a shout-out for support acts, and I liked Ned’s music. His ep has been a constant since.

As the Universe would have it, in 2024 Bernard played in Portugal for the first time, solo or otherwise. It was an amazing concert. 2024 was also the year of Old Jerusalem’s last concert. Old Jerusalem and Francisco Silva, the man behind it, have been part of Mondo’s favourites for decades. Francisco also begun being part of mine, in a different capacity, in 2022 when we wrote our first song together. Old Jerusalem last concert was intimate, poignant, a gathering of friends.

Records:
Bernard Butler – Good Grief (355 Recordings)
Rafael Toral – Spectral Evolution (Moikai/Drag City Records)
Basalto – Blunt Knives (self-release)
The Durutti Column – Vini Reilly (rsd2024)
Ned Swarbrick – Michelangelo EP (self-release)

Concerts:
Bernard Butler – Casa da Música, Porto
Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música & Coro Casa da Música performing Messiah by Handel – Casa da Música, Porto
Basalto – Passos Manuel, Porto
Bill Mackay – Rivoli, Porto
Sleaford Mods – Casa da Música, Porto
Old Jerusalem – Socorro, Porto
Tindersticks – Casa da Música, Porto

Book:
Miranda July – All Fours (Riverhead Books)

Exhibition:
Cláudia Clemente – Plastic Bitch, Mira Fórum, Porto

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

Bernard Butler, Casa da Música, Porto, 17.11.2024.

©Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

A Handful of Songs

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

I knew that Bernard Butler was a guitar genius due to his creativity and originality.

I confess I didn’t knew he was such a communicator. He is very humorous, entertaining and truthful in his discourse, not even shying away from self-deprecation.

©Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

His pop rock is of a singular richness and his ease in transposing it on stage is, to say the least, appreciably comforting. I can feel colours from all shades of the rainbow in Butler’s songs, coated in intense, personal and introspective lyrics. It’s not hard to see yourself in one song or the other, and that’s why it’s easy to navigate his world.

©Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

In this concert at Casa da Música, Bernard’s first ever in Porto, he presented Good Grief, his new album in 25 years, gave us songs such as Deep Emotions and Pretty D, and obviously iconic songs from People Move On, such as My Domain, and the closing Not Alone.

From his collaborations with other artists he brought songs like Although (McAlmont & Butler) and Shallow The Water (Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler).

A solo concert so intimate, just the man and his guitar(s), that you could talk to the musician and sip the stories from his Gibson ES-355, which, in his hands, almost speaks.

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I was delighted by the riffs, sometimes intense, sometimes soft, but all of them imbued with charismatic melodies. Butler is a storyteller and a speaker of the sensations that come from those stories. What’s impressive is the way in which those same sensations fit, in a perfect symbiosis, with the dynamics of his songs. It’s a gift.

©Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

I think that’s all I needed to see and hear on a pre-Christmas Sunday evening. It was indeed well worth leaving the house for!

©Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

Temples, Hard Club, Porto, 14.11.2024.

© Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

Lost in translation. Definitely.

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

Temples are a band of dreams. The magic feeling is constant throughout the band’s performance. Atmospherically very rich and diverse in the structure of their songs, they take us to rest in meadows that stretch far as the eye can see. An immensity of nostalgia and divine emotions that, in fact, can only be reached in temples of sound in which music is the supreme divinity.

© Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

You almost feel a cool breeze on your skin that gives you goose bumps, a constant throughout the concert. In Move With the Seasons I almost levitated, in The Guesser I dreamt and in Fragment’s Light I almost cried. What more could I ask for?

As the songs flowed, bodies moved to the rhythm of the band’s sound, applause was effusive and appropriate for the marvellous setting. The band felt that the audience was with them and James Bagshaw, the band’s singer, ended up saying that this was thee crowd of the tour. I bet it was.

© Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine

I dare say that Temples are one of the best bands of the last 20 years, for its originality and musical creativity, and that Sun Structures is a masterpiece of musical art.Outside, the city is perfectly suited to what was experienced and witnessed indoors. Perhaps because its the city of temples. I still feel it all very much alive and present in me. Thank you, James, Tom, Adam and Rens. Don’t make us wait another 10 years for your return to Portugal and, in particular, to Porto.

© Telma Mota/Mondo Bizarre Magazine