After a dreary Thursday (9/7), featuring classic performances from dance pop groups like Maroon 5 and the Chainsmokers, the rock day was an oasis at The Town festival.
The program presented itself as a mirror of the genre itself: full of contrasts, nostalgia and experimentation. In a powerful demonstration of female agency in today’s landscape, singers such as Pitty, Shirley Manson (of Garbage), Karen O (of Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and the young women of Wet Leg have attracted positive attention, highlighting the diversity of rock in its many aspects. And, the icing on the cake, Foo Fighters turned out to be the best headliners of the event.
The best of Brazilian rock
Pitty opened the day on the Skyline stage with a performance that paid homage to the 20th anniversary of his debut album, “Admirável Chip Novo.” The singer surprised the audience by collaborating with the Nova Orquestra, a symphonic group of young talents, who enriched the opera as a whole, transforming the show into a multidimensional event.
The album “Admirável Chip Novo” is not only the first chapter of Pitty’s musical journey, but also a milestone in Brazilian rock. Released during a period of decline for the genre in the country, the album helped revitalize it, opening space for a new generation of artists in the 2000s with hits like “Teto de Vidro”, “Máscara” and “Equalize”.
Even 20 years after its launch, the repertoire has demonstrated its lasting impact, reflected in the unanimous enthusiasm of those present. With a presence full of nostalgia, but also full of meaning, the singer showed the value of Brazilian rock in a day full of American bands.
The worst of Brazilian rock
On the other hand, the festival also had bad examples of national rock. On stage at The One, Detonautas’ appearance stood out mainly for its lack of originality and the questionable participation of guest Vitor Kley. Terno Rei, with his comfortable indie, falls into cliché with a cover of Legião Urbana. The Red Baron did worse. Now with its third singer, Rodrigo Suricato, it has practically become a cover band, also playing the solo repertoire of its former singers, Cazuza and Roberto Frejat.
MTV show from the 90s
The first international attraction of the evening, Garbage, delivered a remarkable performance, with a setlist centered on MTV hits from the ’90s. “We survived the ’90s, we’re honored to be here,” said singer Shirley Manson, who captivated the audience, especially when playing hits like “Only Happy When it Rains” and “Stupid Girl”.
The band maintains the same energy, seven years after their last visit to Brazil. Butch Vig, producer of iconic albums like Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and Smashing Pumpkins’ “Siamese Dream,” balances the sound with his precise drumming. Shirley Manson, in turn, dominates the stage with her multifaceted voice, capable of delving into ethereal laments or proclaiming a punk revolt, even singing a cover of “Cities in Dust”, a gothic classic by Siouxsie and the Banshees . The most recent songs from the 2021 album “No Gods No Masters” also had space, albeit in smaller quantities.
The singer didn’t mince words during the show. “Life is strange, we don’t know if we’ll come back. We hope so, but we’re old and tired,” the 57-year-old singer said. The artist also wanted to motivate the public: “Be brave and kind. Love yourself, we love you, Saint Paul, thank you for everything.”
Dissonance at the festival
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs took to the Skyline stage at The Town festival in a delicate position. Called to fill the place left by Queens of the Stone Age, canceled due to “medical advice”, the New York group had the difficult task of conquering an audience that expected something completely different.
Formed in the 2000s, the group led by Karen O made its first performance in Brazil in a decade, fortunately favoring older songs rather than the repertoire of the album “Cool it Down”, released in 2022, which was not theirs liking. The repertoire included “Zero”, “Heads Will Roll”, which brought a rain of waste paper, the rock of “Date with the Night” and the iconic “Maps”, dedicated to the Queens of the Stone Age, Shirley Manson of Garbage and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, in an attempt to engage the audience.
Immediately after “Maps” came the most unusual moment of the evening, when Karen O stopped the show, perplexed by a woman trapped on the zip line, who was crossing the space in front of the stage. “He’s fine. Help has arrived,” she said.
It was a concert in an ambiguous atmosphere, with a chilling dissonant/atmospheric instrumental and an energetic performance from the singer, which moved the fans. The problem was that there were almost no fans, as the indifferent audience was just waiting for the Foo Fighters, the next attraction.
Indie cuteness for a few
Emerging British band Wet Leg, led by singers and guitarists Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, brought freshness to the event’s line-up. With only one album and only one almost success, “Chaise Longue”, the indie group closed the stage of The One without particular lights, guests or covers, but with a crying and shy crisis, in front of the most emptied audience of the day.
While many were preparing for the arrival of the Foo Fighters on the main stage, Wet Leg gave away the repertoire of their only album with great emotion. The schedule did not favor the group, who played the last show of the current tour. At one point, Rhian sat on the stage and started crying, while Hester repeated how touched she was by playing in Brazil, talking to herself, almost stammering. They come from a small town on an island that has access to England only by ship, and they were so shy that Rhian played backwards almost all the time, when she wasn’t hiding at the back of the stage.
Wet Leg’s sound combines post-punk elements and influences from 90s bands like the Breeders, with many ironic lyrics and a sweetness that only indie bands retain. But he played at the wrong festival. It would be great at Primavera Sound.
The triumphal closing
The closing ceremony was entrusted to the most anticipated band of the evening. After the cancellation of Foo Fighters’ 2022 show due to the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins the day before, the American band’s return to Brazil sent the Autódromo de Interlagos into a state of collective euphoria. Led by singer Dave Grohl, the performance became a mix of tribute and celebration.
Struck by the quantity of people and the enthusiasm of the audience, Dave Grohl expressed his surprise several times, asking for the lights to be turned on, to have an exact perception of the audience, which he led with choruses of chants and screams in a real catharsis. “I love playing for you. The Brazilian audience is crazy. We have played in different places, but the Brazilians… it’s true. And you know it, right?”, said the musician, immersed in the “sea of lights” formed by mobile phones.
The show also became a time to honor Taylor Hawkins. In one of the evening’s highlights, while performing “Breakout,” Grohl thanked drummer Josh Freese, who took over on drums in Hawkins’ absence. “Please give a warm and loving welcome to the person who made our presence here tonight possible: Josh Freese,” Grohl proclaimed. The band later performed “Aurora”, described by Grohl as Hawkins’ favorite song. “We will play this song every night until the end of our lives. It was Taylor Hawkins’ favorite,” the singer stressed.
Foo Fighters put on a show to please their fans, performing popular hits like “Learn to Fly” and “My Hero,” as well as songs from their most recent album, “But Here We Are,” released last July. year. All the songs were received with enthusiasm for more than two hours, which ended, in an apotheotic way, with “Everlong”.
A great rock show, which demonstrated that bands don’t need to make metal to sound heavy, nor to record commercial music to be sung in full by the audience. With Grohl speaking to the audience the entire time, it was as if, instead of more than 100,000 people, he was playing in a bar for friends, on an exciting night, where he took enormous pleasure in playing whatever the audience wanted feel. .
It’s all rock, baby
With guitars, basses and drums, The Town had its best night, proving that pop can attract people, but it is rock that gives soul to events of this magnitude, with the total commitment of the audience. The exchange of Queens of Stone Age with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was also, in a certain sense, interesting as it helped to make the line-up more complete, demonstrating the great diversity of contemporary rock.
Bringing together artists who marked the Nineties such as Shirley Manson and Dave Grohl, the 2000s such as Pity and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and emerging talents such as Wet Leg, the festival presented the subgenres in an unusual panorama for the productions of Roberto Medina, who Rock in Rio demonstrates the belief that rock is just heavy music, like Guns ‘N Roses and Iron Maiden. Rock is much more, and Primavera Sound soon arrives to reinforce it.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
