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?
words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota
It seemed everyone was already waiting to shake their hips to SDH frantic rhythm, since that happened from the start. The powerful loops and samples continuously blasting throughout the room that had enough space for improvised dancing. The Barcelona duo’s (Andrea Latorre e Sergi Algiz) synth pop a la discoteque, even if mixed with some industrial experimentism and a sparkle of dark wave is an invitation to dancing.
Andrea dances throughout with goth-dancer mannerisms and sensuality in her gestures. The very creative and pertiment always changing set design, mixed with the overhaul dark ambient and the frantic colourful lights did the rest. Very funny.
They showered the submissive audience with an energetic and progressive set going around tracks like No Miracles, Tell Them, Balance e obviamente, and the always expected Hectic. I’m not going home. The warm up worked very well and I will go around city alleys looking for sige sound franticness. I think I know where to go.
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.
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 