Day 2 of Festival Para Gente Sentada<\/b> (FPGS) and it was a sunny day in Braga. The conditions for an easy afternoon listening to the lovely music of Peixe<\/b>, Sun Blossoms <\/b>and Time for T <\/b>were perfect. Unfortunately life had other plans for us and, by the time we got to Braga, we\u2019d missed all three of those shows. \u00a0Or so we thought.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It turned out that we weren\u2019t the only ones that had a hitch in our plans and it seems like Sun Blossoms<\/b> ran into some car trouble on the way to the Festival so they had Toulouse<\/b> fill in for them. Unlucky for Alexandre Fernandes<\/b> and his crew, lucky for us that still managed to see them play later.<\/p>\n
\n
Playing at dusk rather than on the predicted time-slot, Alex Fernandes<\/b> wore his
\nbest Hawaiian shirt and brought out the warm and fuzzy summery vibe <\/b>that lives inside of Sun Blossoms<\/b> \u2013 his lo-fi bedroom
\nproject that has just released its homonymous first album.<\/p>\n
As we stood on that plaza the sun had already set but,
\nhearing these reverb-drowned but straight-to-the-point songs, we were instantly
\nreminded of a stripped-down version of the California rock-scene. You could tell
\nSun Blossoms<\/b> is still a fresh
\nproject deeply tainted with genuine naivety and still searching for a firm
\nfooting but that works in the band\u2019s favor. Who doesn\u2019t like seeing a bunch of kids
\npick up their instruments with ambition? Ahh the promise of youth is so
\nrefreshing! Way to go!<\/p>\n
Sun Blossoms\u2019<\/b>
\nlate performance messed up our timetable a bit so we left a bit earlier and quickly
\ngrabbed a bite nearby before heading to Theatro Circo just in time to see B Fachada<\/b> open the main-stage on this
\nsecond day.<\/p>\n
\n
B Fachada<\/b> has
\nbeen splitting opinions ever since he first appeared in the music-scene. His
\nmusic started with simple guitar compositions, witty lyrics and off kilter
\nvocals but has since turned to samplers, synths and even more exaggerated
\nvocals. Looking at <\/b>him <\/b>now it makes us feel like grumpy old
\nmen complaining about how much better things used to be back in the day. There\u2019s
\nno need to make this a debate of guitar vs. synth \u2013 that\u2019s not what this is and
\nwe love them both. It\u2019s just that the new direction B Fachada<\/b> took his music doesn\u2019t appeal to us and feels empty.<\/p>\n
On stage, the feeling of emptiness on the new songs is
\namplified and seeing Fachada<\/b> alone,
\nbehind a synth, flamboyantly singing over roughly cut samples was disheartening.
\nHe was never much of a singer to begin with but, along with his lyrics, that was
\nwhat made him somewhat special. To us it just seemed like he was trying too
\nhard to be quirky, especially when he decided loosen up and dance a little.<\/p>\n
Compared to the shy B Fachada<\/b> we used to know, this one seemed almost like a joke.
\nThere were good songs of course, like the guitar-driven \u201dMan\u00e9-Man\u00e9\u201d, and we did
\nenjoy some of the more african-influenced songs from \u201cCri\u00f4lo\u201d (his fourth LP)
\nbut overall the performance felt flat and uninspired. Like we said on the
\nreview of the first day: \u201ctime stops for no one\u201d and as much as we\u2019d love to
\nsee B Fachada<\/b> perform acoustic songs
\nwith his \u201cbraguesa\u201d guitar that\u2019s just not who he is anymore\u2026 or maybe we\u2019re
\njust bitter that he didn\u2019t include our favorite songs in the setlist.<\/p>\n
\n
With Lydia Ainsworth<\/b>
\nthings didn\u2019t get any better and the prospects for the evening weren\u2019t looking very
\noptimistic so far. With a long white veil over her head, Lydia<\/b> resembled a ghostly figure \u2013 an eerie imagery that worked
\nvery well with her somber spectral pop. Her gloomy songs have a heavy emphasis
\non overworked vocal melodies and somber synths in ways that, at times, made us
\nthink of Enya or Kate Bush (even if Lydia
\nAinsworth<\/b> is a lot more restrained and far less kitschy).<\/p>\n
We would\u2019ve skipped this whole concert if we had known
\nhow boring it would be. There\u2019s no need to coat this with sugar – we literally
\nsaw people sleeping on the audience – but, to be fair, things did warm up a bit
\nnear the end. By finishing the show with \u201cMalachite\u201d (one of the stronger songs
\nfrom Right From Real<\/i>) and a surprisingly dark cover of Chris Isaak\u2019s classic \u201cWicked
\nGame\u201d that could\u2019ve come from Lana del Rey, Lydia<\/b> redeemed herself and left a not-so-bad last impression behind.<\/p>\n
\n
After a couple of underwhelming performances it was up
\nto Mercury Rev<\/b> to save the night. If
\nyou read our preview for the festival you know that we were a bit skeptical of
\nthis concert. We could say that the fact that our expectations weren\u2019t very
\nhigh helped the show\u2019s tremendous impact but that would be very unfair to Jonathan Donahue<\/b>, Grasshopper<\/b> and the rest of the band. To put it bluntly: it was just
\nfucking great!<\/p>\n
Despite a few technical problems (the lead vocals were
\ncausing some kind of resonance that was very distracting), the exuberant
\ncrescendos we\u2019ve grown to love sounded great and it was very fun to see them
\nbloom powerfully in response to Donahue<\/b>\u2019s
\ndramatic gestures. We felt deep pleasure in revisiting the magnificence of \u201cOpus
\n40\u201d, the ambition of \u201cTonite it Shows\u201d or the heavenly choirs of \u201cEndlessly\u201d,
\nand even the new songs, \u201cThe Queen of Swans\u201d and \u201cAutumn\u2019s in the Air\u201d, perfectly
\ncarried Mercury Rev<\/b>\u2019s spirit and emotion.<\/p>\n
After the final song (\u201cOpus 40\u201d), Mercury Rev<\/b>\u2019s drummer, Jeff
\nMercel<\/b> took the mic and, speaking in an admirable Portuguese, he declared
\nthe band\u2019s love for Portugal. After that not-so-subtle nudge we thought the
\nencore was pretty much a given (also they hadn\u2019t played \u201cGoddess on a Highway\u201d
\nyet) but somehow, as soon as the band left the stage the lights got turned on
\nand people started leaving. Only a handful of hardcore fans stayed behind
\ncheering the band but to no avail. It was one hell of a show , too bad that it
\nhad to end a bit abruptly\u2026 but at least we got a lovely Neil Young cover (\u201cA
\nMan Needs a Maid\u201d) and a beautiful tribute to the late Mark Linkus (\u201cSea of
\nTeeth\u201d by Sparklehorse) \u2013 the biggest surprises from the setlist.<\/p>\n
\n
Still a bit disappointed with the lack of an encore, it
\nwas time to go back to GNRation for <\/b>a
\nquick math lesson. Filho da M\u00e3e +
\nRicardo Martins<\/b> is proof that the whole doesn\u2019t have to be limited to the
\nsum of the part and this new project by two of the most talented Portuguese
\nmusicians of the last few years results in something that is new to both of
\nthem.<\/p>\n
This time Filho
\nda M\u00e3e<\/b> went electric but, even though that\u2019s not entirely new to him (he
\nwas If Lucy Fell\u2019s guitar-man), this new path is less aggressive and a lot warmer
\nthan before. On the drums, Ricardo
\nMartins<\/b> is still his colossal self, playing monstrous and unpredictable
\njams \u2013 he was never one for simple 4\/4 rhythms anyway. Together they form a
\nreally imposing duo – two titans throwing everything they\u2019ve got at one another
\nwhile the audience can only watch their clash dumbfounded and powerless. No one
\nwould dare to step between them while they\u2019re playing but no one could leave
\nuntil they were done either.<\/p>\n
The night would wrap with DJ Coco\u2019s performance but,
\nafter the last two concerts we\u2019d just seen, we had to go home to properly let
\nit all sink in. See you next year, Festival
\nPara Gente Sentada<\/b>. We\u2019ll wait for you.<\/p>\n
JR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Day 2 of Festival Para Gente Sentada (FPGS) and it was a sunny day in Braga. The conditions for an easy afternoon listening to the lovely music of Peixe, Sun Blossoms and Time for T were perfect. Unfortunately life had other plans for us and, by the time we got to Braga, we\u2019d missed all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[1641,217,1639,1543,509,753,1640,1642],"class_list":["post-549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live","tag-b-fachada","tag-festival","tag-festival-para-gente-sentada","tag-filho-da-mae","tag-lydia-ainsworth","tag-mercury-rev","tag-ricardo-martins","tag-sun-blossoms"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t