Best of Blues and Rock: Festival says goodbye with large gatherings and raising the flag of eclecticism

At the end of its tenth edition, the impression remained that the Best of Blues and Rock 2023 he took risks and succeeded in his daring mixture of eras, styles and audiences. There was a bit of everything in the cast, which made the festival democratic and accessible to anyone willing to face its three days.

On Friday, the privilege was rock. On Saturday, the blues was honored. And on Sunday, the two logics had space and mixed – with the right to several tributes to Jimi Hendrix It is Rita Lee during the shows. The day began with the singer’s youth appeal Day Limns, went back a few years to the 1980s nostalgia of the Will! and radio pop rock Goo Goo Dolls and ended with the reruns of the concerts of buddy guy It is Tom Morellowho have already become the unofficial patrons of the Best of Blues and Rock.

Day Limns represents the young audience at the festival

Many people arrived early at Ibirapuera Park to check out the singer’s show Day Limns. Revealed in the program The Voice and successful on social networks, the 27-year-old from Goiás has accumulated a large and loyal fan base in recent years, which was more than evident during her lively presentation.

Even being the youngest artist in the Best of Blues and Rock, Day he was at ease, and so was his audience.

“For those who don’t know, my fans throw panties on stage,” she explained, before singing ‘Red Lighthouse'”just as some panties were thrown.

Interactivity with the audience, by the way, was a show of its own: holding black and red balloons, a crowd sang tracks from end to end and shouted for the attention of the protagonist.

With the 14:00 sun at its peak, a good part of the fans spread out over the lawn, looking for the few spots of shade. Day, however, was not intimidated. honored Rita Lee (“Mania de Você”), played new music (“My religion”) and vented about the importance of the moment:

“My father passed away two years ago. He was very rock and didn’t have the opportunity to see my first record”, she declared. “He would be – and is – proud. I want to dedicate this show to him.”

Will! evokes the 80s with the sun in the face

The eighties band that best represents São Paulo rock brought to the festival a version of their concert in celebration of the album’s 25th anniversary Psychoacoustics (1988). Practically repeating the repertoire of the presentation he made the day before (in John Rockin Ribeirão Preto), the band of the founders Nasi It is Edgard Scandurra (completed by bassist Johnny Boy and the drummer Evaristo of Padua) was the Brazilian name of the Best of Blues and Rock with more history, and for that very reason, perhaps it deserved to play at a more favorable time.

The four o’clock sun beat down half of the already partially packed lawn in the Ibirapuera Auditorium, affecting the four gentlemen on stage – all wore dark glasses, except for Scandurra, who was wearing a hat. With all its experience of 40 years, the veteran band delivered a “best of” partial with several of his successes. Let’s face it, a show that starts with “Struggle Days” and ends with “Base Core” you can not go wrong.

In a nailed hour, there was time for one more homage to Rita Lee (“I Walk Half Off”, from Os Mutantes)a cover of Jimi Hendrix (“Foxy Lady“the first mention of the day to the cult guitarist), the participation of Day Limns in “I Always Want More” (who originally had the voice of Pitty in the album MTV acoustic) and four tracks followed by Psychoacoustics – which were not as well received as the hits of Vivendo e not learning (1986), “Growing Up in the City” It is “Flowers on You”. The strength of the kitchen Johnny It is Evaristo allowed that Scandurra shine freely with his inverted guitar, while Nasi did not stop inciting the crowd, with the right to enthusiastic shouts of “hey ho, let’s go”.

Goo Goo Dolls make sugary pop for the masses

O Goo Goo Dolls was the representative of FM pop in the line-up of Best of Blues and Rock. And the American band delivered exactly what the attentive public expected from them: songs taken on the guitar, short and melodic, made to sing along and at the top of their lungs. Animating the crowd all the time, the vocalist John Rzeznik and the bassist Robby Takacwho founded the group in 1986, walked from end to end of the stage, smiling and banging their instruments with excitement.

All tracks from Goo Goo Dolls they sound like hits – either that, or because they look so much alike. But the fans obviously knew the difference, celebrating with different intensities as well-known ones emerged, such as “Slide”, “Sympathy”, “Black Balloons”, “Come to Me”, “Better Days”and “Name” (“This one is very old,” said Rzeznik, about the 1995 album track, A Boy Named Goo).

So efficient with the “uplifting-pop-rock-with-emotional-chorus” formula, it is possible to say that the Goo Goo Dolls practically created a subgenre to call its own. And the format still works, given the large amount of teenagers and families with children in the audience. This proves that the band’s sound is not only timeless, but also manages to impact new generations through social media.

As the night arrived, the general impatience for the big hit, the sticky “Iris”, from the movie track City of Angels. The track didn’t even need to be introduced by Rzeznik, who dumped the guitar intro without warning, knowing what was to come. Immediately, hundreds of cell phone screens rose above heads, ending the presentation of the Goo Goo Dolls with epic tones.

Tom and Buddy, Buddy and Tom

In the final hours of Best of Blues and Rock, Tom Morello It is buddy guy reprized their Friday and Saturday shows, respectively, and those who watched them noticed slight changes.

Last night’s headline, guy made his last performance in Brazil on Sunday, as the Damn Right Farewell Tour marks the end of a seven-decade career in the service of the blues. And the legendary 86-year-old guitarist took the opportunity to say goodbye to the Brazilians in the most casual way possible.

The “polka dot” polka dot print was left out this time, with guy opting for a flowered shirt under the overalls and with the same yellow Fender Stratocaster throughout the show. Perhaps noticing that the audience was more distracted than the night before, the charismatic bluesman abused his tricks. He played louder solos, played with the feedback, rubbed his guitar against his belly, and even tuned the mizinho string as he sang. “If you let me, I’ll play all night,” he repeated, in a low voice that gets incredibly muscular when he sings.

In a presentation slightly shorter than the one on the 3rd, guy paraded the typical repertoire in which it covers blues highlights, including novelties, such as “I Let My Guitar Do The Talking”from their recent album The Blues Don’t Lie(2022), in addition to “Five Long Years”, classic of the genre from 1952. Of course, the tribute to Jimi Hendrix, with “Voodoo Child” (which would be played on that stage again later that same night).

Now with the descendants Carlise It is Greg Guy under the spotlight, the band performed a cozy version of “Little by LIttle” (Junior Wells), with father and daughter lovingly sharing the microphone. At the end, an unexpected special participant: Tom Morello went soloing on one of his own Polka Dot Stratocasters guy. As the jam continued for a few minutes, the master threw picks to the audience, waved his thanks and left, calmly, without looking back.

Right away, Tom Morello once again he made his presentation in the style of “Esta é sua vida”, going through songs from almost all the albums he has ever recorded, without favoring any specific moment. “Thank you for supporting all my bands over the years,” he said, to a slightly smaller and less raucous audience than on Friday.

The repertoire also changed. Played in full at the first show, “Cochise”, of Audioslave, was only mentioned in the medley of excerpts from Rage Against the Machine. Another novelty was “World Wide Rebel Songs”from the project The Nightwatchman, on what Morello repeated the joke of making the entire audience crouch down and jump along. The obligatory tribute to Hendrix came with the same “Voodoo Child” also played by buddy guy. Another interesting moment was “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, by Bruce Springsteen, who won a poignant and heavier interpretation than the original (in which Morello participated singing and playing, on the album High Hopes, of 2014).

The greatest grace of the show Tom Morello it’s realizing how much fun he seems to have playing any song, however far removed from the style and themes that enshrined him in the 1990s. “I told everyone that Brazil has the best fans in the world. I want y’all to taste this shit today,” he declared, calling for engagement and receiving effusive applause. Finally, two protest songs, from different times and contexts, but similar intentions: “Killing in the Name”, symbol of Rage Against the MachineIt is “Power to the People”anthem of John Lennon. In his own way, Morello once again left your message.

The tenth edition of Best of Blues and Rocktook place from the 2nd to the 4th of June, at Ibirapuera Park, in São Paulo.