Text by Yannick Sasaki
Photos by Marcela Lorenzetti
Ten years ago, many of the people in the audience were probably leaving high school, turning on their MP3 players/iPods and listening to the visceral screams of George Pettit and Wade MacNeil contrasting with the perfectly tuned vocals of Dallas Green . Just as I was marked by Alexisonfire 's self-titled debut album , the fans who packed Audio on Thursday the 24th were surely too, and just as eager for the reunion as they were, so was the Canadian quintet.
The venue was completely packed for the Lolla Parties by Alexisonfire and A Day to Remember . The smoking area, the bathrooms, the dance floor, the VIP areas, and even before the gates opened, the line that snaked around onto Rua Deputado Salvador Julianelli made it clear that an incredible night was about to unfold – and I can tell you right now, it was an incredible night.
Just a few minutes before 9 pm, the audience was already chanting the name of the Canadian post-hardcore , and they didn't take long to take the stage and begin their performance with "Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints," from their 2006 album, Crisis. With its emotive lyrics, sung in a liberating way by both the audience and the band, it was immediately clear what kind of atmosphere the night would set.
In a frenzy alongside the fans, Alexisonfire played and sang the sequence “Boiled Frogs”, “Old Crows” and “.'44 Caliber Love Letter” in perfect harmony, bringing out all the emotion, sometimes angrily, sometimes melodically, with the audience making this evident in the mosh pit that opened up in the middle of the dance floor, using the chaotic parts to let loose and the calm parts to rest and sing along.
The band also presented the song "Sweet Dreams of Otherness" to the São Paulo audience for the first time. This song will be featured on their upcoming album, Otherness , scheduled for release on June 24th. The album, released 13 years after Old Crows/Young Cardinals, the band's last album before their hiatus until 2019, saw nostalgic fans celebrate with the release of the single "Familiar Drugs," which they played as the show drew to a close.
Ensuring an apotheotic end to the night, the band played their greatest hits “This Could Be Anywhere in the World” and “Young Cardinals” in sequence, in ten chaotic minutes where not a single person present was seen standing still or silent. Alexisonfire definitively made it clear in the minds of São Paulo fans why they have been the main name in the scene for so long, with a historic show that will certainly echo in the memory of fans at least until the next reunion – which is just around the corner, Sunday the 27th, at Lollapalooza 2022.
