words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota
A welcome surprise on Maus Hábitos stage: Norway’s Mayflower Madame made their Portuguese debut.
Shunning any inflated posturing and maintaining all the discretion they could, the four musicians from Oslo delivered a strong concert, focused on a spotless performance that moved through all three of their albums to date, with a particular emphasis on the most recent, Insight.
Songs such as Lovesick, Paint It All Blue and A Foretold Ecstasy coloured the room with captivating atmospheres, blending – quite fluidly – the sweep of gothic-tinged epics with post-punk exaltation.
Trond Fagernes’s voice, the arrangements, and the rhythm section occasionally summoned cinematic moods, in an immersive performance that did not disappoint.
Decidedly, a band to keep in mind for any Michelin guide to post-sonorities.
words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota
Six years on, The Young Gods returned to Porto for a performance that in no way disappointed the legion of devoted followers who filled the Hard Club to capacity.
With Swiss punctuality, the trio -long familiar to Portuguese stages since 1990 – appeared to promote their latest album, Appear Disappear, released in June this year.
“I spend my time in the brain of the monster,” sang Franz Treichler, quoting Che Guevara, on Appear Disappear. Riding the mounting tension woven by the energetic guitar riffs, the vigorous electronics of Cesare Pizzi and the tribal percussion of Bernard Trontin, the concert flowed through the creative storm of their latest work before revisiting TV Sky (1992), creating an intriguing juxtaposition that reaffirmed the unmistakable sonic fingerprint of the Swiss trio.
Undisputed masters of finely orchestrated industrial landscapes, The Young Gods delivered a flawless performance that extended across two encores.
The finale came with Did You Miss Me, from their 1987 debut album, a multifaceted evocation at a time when the band celebrates forty years of existence. The night reaffirmed them as a performative force still capable of surprising and stirring… the teenagers of the ’90s.
words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); drawings: Neno Costa
God Is an Astronaut returned to Casa da Música, three years after their last appearance in 2022- this time Sala Suggia – offering, true to form, yet another magnificent concert.
The Irish trio emerged following a virtuosic solo performance by cellist Jo Quail, who accompanies the band on this voyage, enriching their sound without in the slightest disturbing the post-rock atmosphere. A realm ruled by the voices of instruments and the crafting of vast, interpretative landscapes.
The sonic voyage began with Falling Leaves, opening the passage into their latest work, Embers (2024). The distinctive picking of Torsten Kinsella’s guitar slipped forth like an invitation to the senses, soon joined by the other instruments to form a scene traversed like an emotional roller-coaster, with epic downpours and nostalgic sunsets. The well-tempered bass of Niels Kinsella and the band’s new drummer Anxo Silveira wove an intricate, enveloping dialogue, further expanded by Jo Quail’s contribution.
It was a solid, soaring performance that carried the audience on a cosmic voyage through highlights of their eleven-album career. With the indispensable All Is Violent, All Is Bright seasoning an already rich setlist, and closing, ouroboros-like, with From Dust to Beyond (2002).
words: Marcos Leal (edited by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota
Jim Jarmusch, the independent filmmaker behind iconic cinematic works with the soul of a musician, and Jozef van Wissem, the maestro of the lute, performed a concert that felt like it had drifted out of a somber yet beautiful dream.
With tracks like The Unclouded Day and Concerning Celestial Hierarchy, the concert opened as a kind of secular meditation, where van Wissem’s lute chords engaged in a delicate conversation with Jarmusch’s textured guitar layers.
The soundscape was meditative, with van Wissem’s fingerpicking bordering on hypnotic, and Jarmusch’s slow, dense guitar seeming suspended in time, adding waves of reverb and feedback to the folk serenity of the lute.
Their chemistry was defined by minimalism and transcendence: few notes, vast space, and a deeply cinematic aura. Tracks like The Unclouded Day and Only Lovers Left Alive pulled the audience into a world where the soundtrack itself was the lead character.
But the most surprising moment came during the encore.After a performance drenched in introspection, the two returned to the stage and, without warning, standing tall with guitars raised, launched into a track driven by an electronic beat—more pulsating, more visceral, almost danceable.
The audience stirred, though still somewhat restrained by the mood shaped earlier. It felt as if they had tugged us back to Earth, just to prove that even masters of silence know how to erupt in sound when they choose to.
words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota – reel on our insta @mondobizarremagazine
Punk is not dead in the land of the rising sun. Such was proved – and how proved it was! – by Guitar Wolf in a remarkable concert at the temple of Porto’s most daring sounds, Barracuda.
The Japanese trio, formed in 1987 – of which original line-up only survivor is guitarist Seiji – presented themselves with an irreverent, captivating stance, invoking the country that bequeathed them tempura and arigato, before toppling the sonic reactors upon the human mass that seized up in a sea for extreme sweat and heat until the last chord.
Punk rock of the best origin, in an omnipresent tribute to the Ramones, provided a sound that transcends the more canonical formula, entwining a power noise with criative particularities able to sustain songs like Fujiyama Attack and Jet Generation.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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).
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!
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?…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mondo Bizarre Magazine 