Angra Rebirth album celebration tour last Sunday, the 19th, at Espaço Leste – but not without difficulties.
Sunday's show faced several issues before its highly anticipated start: scheduled for 9:10 PM, it only began at 11 PM due to a delay by the technical team, who were stuck in bus traffic between Vila Velha, in Espírito Santo, and the concert venue in the eastern part of São Paulo, a journey of approximately 20 hours in total, according to team members.
The audience was informed of the situation, which was beyond the band's control, after more than an hour of waiting, and some fans decided to leave, probably due to the venue's location and the start of the work week the following day.
The crew had little time to set up the instruments on stage, and the band still needed some minor adjustments in the first few songs, also experiencing brief feedback at various points during the performance, but all these "setbacks," in Rafael Bittencourt , were overcome by the connection between the band and the audience.
Despite a smaller audience compared to other shows the band will have on the tour, such as the upcoming show in São Paulo on July 2nd at Tokio Marine Hall, which will also be streamed live on pay-per-view , the people gathered in front of the small stage eagerly awaited that moment, starting a chant of "Olê, olê, olê, olê! Angra, Angra!" as soon as the tour introduction appeared on the screen.
As soon as Felipe Andreoli, Fabio Lione , Marcelo Barbosa , Bruno Valverde , and Bittencourt took the stage, even any complaints about the delay and the fatigue from the extended wait seemed forgotten, with the audience enthusiastically singing along to the opening songs "Nothing To Say" and "Black Widow's Web."
The audience showed all their energy with the start of the Rebirth , an album performed in its entirety on the tour, finding Angra also dedicated to putting on a show, despite the setbacks. From the time of the album's release, only Rafael Bittencourt and Felipe Andreoli remain in the band, but the current lineup, which has remained the same since 2015 when Barbosa joined, is already more than familiar with the album's repertoire, which was performed with passion.
Right after “Acid Rain,” the audience started chanting “Fabio, Fabio!” and, certainly, the vocalist deserved the spotlight of the night, as Andreoli made sure to emphasize to the audience. “This guy spent more than 20 hours on the bus, he’s tired,” he said, praising his colleague, who traveled with the same team that suffered delays due to a traffic accident on the bus route, unlike their colleagues who traveled by plane and arrived at the venue earlier.
Even so, Lione delivered a charismatic and technically proficient performance, even joking with the audience by asking them to repeat particularly difficult vocalizations (unsuccessfully, of course). “But are you tired?” he said before instructing the audience to stay in the middle vocal range, praising the results afterward. The Italian, already well-connected with the Brazilian audience, delivered impressive vocals throughout the show and even lyrical vocals in “Visions,” the closing track of Rebirth .
It was at this point that we ended our coverage due to the time, but the show continued with the band's biggest hits, such as "Bleeding Heart" and "Carry On" in the encore. Angra and their fans, so dedicated and patient, managed to overcome so many problems, and the result was an intimate yet powerful encounter that shows the intensity of the audience's connection with the music. The Rebirth continues until July 17th, with possible new dates in December .
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