words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota
I confess I’ve spend most of my life seeings attempts at burying rock-‘n’-roll for the most varied reasons and dantesc like premonitions. As if a chronicle of an announced demise.
It is bands like Sprints that show up giving the finger to those morbid mistrustfuls, holding a fluffy white bunny passport.What happened Saturday at Mouco was epic.
They arrived, they saw, they conquered. With a very energetic and lascivious garage/stoner punk rock this young band from Dublin grabbed the audience from the beginning to the end of the concert. No truces given drawing the audience to get involved with the band at song, at every charge.
Energetic and irreverent, well instrumentally sustained with drums supported (Jack Callan), bass and vocals (Sam McCann) guitar (Colm O’Reilly) and Karla Chubb (main vocals, guitar) doing everything else. Karla has an overwhelming power that leaves no one indifferent.
The setlist played was everything the Sprints have to give and believe it is a lot. Heavy, Adore, Cathedral, Delia, Shadow and Letter and others, were part of the party that ended with Karla in a happy mosh among the audience.
I left belly filled and only felt like singing to myself: I know, it’s only rock’n’roll, but I like it, I like it… yes I do! How not to?
The tracery of Sparky (Hips and Makers, 1994) filled the wideness of the stage until Kristin Hersh’s voice filled the room with Eyeshine (Clear Pound Road, 2023) casting out ghosts that seemed to threaten Throwing Muses’muse at every turn.
Lady of lyrics tinted by experience and personal conflicts, braided with a pop folk sound under a harsh vocal sky Kristin Hersh and her acoustic guitar run through thirty years of career, including her time with Throwing Muses, in an intimate, mature, flowing performance in choices such as Your Ghost (Hips and Makers, 1994), Kay Catherine (Throwing Muses, 2020), Your Dirty Answer (Sonny Border Blue, 2001) or Ms Haha from her latest album.
It would have been wonderful to prolong this golden moment of the musical calendary, electrically wrapped with The Cuckoo (Hips and Makers, 1994) and English folk song open to interpretations, cladled as a goodbye.
words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Daniela Tendim
Sereias opened the evening with their frantic, vocally agressive rock. Abundantly shouted in despair, among foul language, demands and political and social criticism. They’re very solid and original instrumentalists in the way they mix styles and impose tempos. But always very together. An interesting band, no doubt.
I could say punk bastards are back or that the good old fashioned rebels would have returned in na electro punk rap and spoken word version, but I will not do it, even because I just did it. I’ll center myself in what is worthy about British duo Sleaford Mods. Obviously punk’s stigma is present on the fast intense vocalizations of the sarcastic speech, at times comical, and electronic samples minimalism everyone. But, in reality, do Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn Bing us or intend to put across?
To me, it seems they have a lot to say and to uncover not only Great Britain concerning, but regarding the world at large in its hypocrisy and aggressive capitalist economy. Sleaford Mods music is to be danced to, felt, grooved. It is also to be reflected upon and internalised. Although the communication channel is minimalist electronic music, their message is anything but minimalistic. In line with social and political criticism “in your face” bands like The Clash, Public Enemy, Rage Against, this duo shots towards their chosen targets with genuine haughtiness.
The concert at Casa da Música justified all that. Jason’s voice on his East Midlands Accent among psychedelic strobe lights, vociferações that resembled seagulls overing above any coastal town, his balancing water bottles on his head artist posture like a cocky rooster trying to moonwalk and footloose, tracks like TCR, BHS, and the cover of Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls keep coming out entertaining the hordes attendees and Sleaford Mods fans.Oh Captain! My Captain! They follow us everywhere and I go west.
words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos Hiliana Melo
On stage, more than showbiz, more than show off, give rock’n’roll truth. As it is in its essence. Unpretentious and genuine. That is what Pop Dell’Arte is. That is it, and it is very good.
Sonorously speaking it is complex in construction, structure, form. Bass, drums and guitar played by Zé Pedro Moura, Ricardo Martins and Paulo Monteiro are extremely competent performing the songs as well as on their own, leaving an impression with the daring passion the music flows to our senses. João Peste’s voice is what we were used to over decades. Intense and very charismatic. At times powerful and resounding, at times sarcastic, dragged, and insolent filled of an apparent juvenile innocence. Take note, apparent! Maybe that is why he and his companions can make Pop Dell’Arte’s music seem so fresh. Each concert is a celebration. An hymn to the band’s aesthetic conscience and its survival along its life spam.
This concert didn’t deviate from it, and that is good. It started with Star Wars and Em Creta, through Avanti Marinaio, Planet Lakroon, Panoptical Architecture for Empty Streets in a Silent City, Wil’n’Chic, Be Bop and Sonhos Pop, and, towards the end Freaky Dance and My Funny Ana Lana. A great celebration, no doubt.Is it me or this more thrilling, frantic, alternative as well as pop side of rock as its strongest expression in a time references were few, but, indisputably, remarkable.
text: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota
After a fasting tour of the sun, Salgado’s party returned for its 9th edition at Maus Hábitos. As usual in previous editions the line-up presented an appealing variety of musical proposals, making for choices between the concerts that took place on the three stages of a sold out venue. As usual, the people turned out in droves, filling the night with a friendly atmosphere, tinged with reunions and …beer. The highlight goes to 10000 Russos, a band from Porto that opened the evening, with themes from their latest album Superiertia (2021) in a renewed psychedelic incursion, dense and rich in sound textures and healthy evocations. On the Stockahusen stage, the most breathable, the Gãrgoola were a good surprise, in a shamanic performance that left a taste for more. Salgado Stage crowded, suffocating. In the background, Samuel Úria (Um Gajo Com Pés De Roque Enrole) emerged from the human barrier that prevented progression, and the chords of a well-behaved punk set the audience on fire. Stage change. Inescapable for lovers of full-bodied rock with contagious psychedelia, Gator The Alligator electrified the Super Rock Stage before another good surprise, the creative and irreverent performance of Unsafe Space Garden. Return to Stockhausen stage for O Manipulador, where Manuel Molarinho orchestrated the pedal mattress that unfold and transfigured, with creative singularity, a well-manipulated bass guitar. With Salgado Stage overflowing with Pluto (Manuel Cruz and Peixe), Super Bock stage was an alternative for a dip in emotions unconfined by the punk energy of Galician Kings Of The Beach, closing the set of performances which program had to undergo some readjustments due to circumstances. A note of recognition is required for Maus Hábitos’ workers, for their professionalism and friendliness, on a laborious and particularly demanding night. Happy birthday to Salgado.
Depois de uma volta ao sol de jejum, a festa do Salgado regressou para a sua 9.ª edição nos Maus Hábitos. O programa, como tem sido usual nas edições anteriores, apresentou uma variedade apelativa de propostas musicais, obrigando a escolhas entre os concertos que se desenrolaram nos três palcos de uma casa esgotada dias atrás. Como tem sido hábito, o público acorreu em peso, tingindo a noite com um ambiente simpático, tingido de reencontros e…cerveja. Destaque para os portuenses 10000 russos com temas do seu último álbum, Superiertia (2021), numa incursão psicadélica renovada, densa e rica de texturas sonoras e saudáveis evocações a abrir a noite. No palco Stockahusen, o mais respirável, os Gãrgoola constituíram uma boa surpresa, numa performance xamânica que soube a pouco. O Palco Salgado apinhado, sufocante. Ao fundo, Samuel Úria (Um Gajo Com Pés De Roque Enrole) emergiu da barreira humana que impedia a progressão e os acordes de um punk bem comportando incendiou o público. Mudança de palco. Incontornáveis para os apreciadores de um rock encorpado de psicadelismo contagiante, os Gator The Alligator eletrificaram o Palco Super Rock antes de mais outra boa surpresa, com a atuação criativa e irreverente dos Unsafe Space Garden. Retornou-se ao palco Stockhausen para O Manipulador, onde Manuel Molarinho orquestrou o tapete de pedais que desmultiplicaram e transfiguraram, com singularidade criativa, um baixo bem manipulado. Com o Palco Salgado a transbordar com Pluto (Manuel Cruz e Peixe), o palco Super Bock foi alternativa para um mergulho nas emoções desconfinadas pela energia punk dos galegos Kings Of The Beach, fechando o périplo de atuações cujo programa teve que sofrer alguns reajustes por força das circunstâncias. Impõe-se uma nota de reconhecimento para os trabalhadores dos Maus Hábitos, pelo profissionalismo e simpatia, numa noite laboriosa e particularmente exigente. Parabéns ao Salgado.
Mondo Bizarre Magazine 