Text by Patricia C. Figueiredo
The audience gradually arrived at the Araújo Vianna Auditorium, located in one of the city's tourist attractions, Farroupilha Park, which was incidentally hosting the official celebrations of the city's anniversary, mixing different groups around the venue.
Viper
Even though the venue opened shortly after 6 PM, about half an hour later than scheduled, Viper maintained punctuality but faced a lackluster start to the show. This can be attributed to the assigned seating system the venue offers, with no space for a standing area. With the crowd seated and interacting mainly through shouts and somewhat restrained headbanging, Viper kicked things off with the still-recent "Under The Sun," a single that shows that Viper's DNA remains intact even after some hiatuses and lineup changes over the years.
“Knights of Destruction” and “A Cry From The Edge,” originally sung by Andre Matos , were perfectly performed with Leandro Caçoilo on vocals, leaving the audience very satisfied and honored to see his performance on stage. Pit Passarell , always in good humor and making jokes everywhere, even warned that he wouldn't sing “Evolution,” a track from the 1992 album of the same name on which he was the vocalist, because it had been a long time since he'd done it and he didn't remember the lyrics. And sure enough, when Leandro called him to sing a verse together, Pit just hesitated and made embarrassed faces. Among Pit's jokes, he also called Porto Alegre "Curitiba" (clearly just to tease the audience) and even posed for a selfie from the stage with a fan in the audience.
From the middle of the audience, a t-shirt with Andre Matos's photo caught the attention of Leandro Caçoilo, who dedicated "Living For The Night" to Viper's first vocalist who passed away in 2019, and also included bassist Canisso , who died a few weeks ago. Leandro then invited everyone to stand up and came down from the stage to sing the beginning of the song close to the fans who were in the front rows.
With the audience already on their feet and gradually feeling more comfortable in the auditorium, Viper ended their set with "Rebel Maniac" and a more metal version of Queen's "We Will Rock You." Although the show lasted less than an hour, it was undoubtedly enhanced by the band's unfazed by the venue's dynamic atmosphere and by the great classics sung along with the fans.
Ritual Slaughter
About twenty minutes late, Matanza Ritual arrived to tear the place up and ensure the crowd's energy didn't wane. Guitarist Antônio Araújo immediately ordered everyone to stand up, and the audience huddled as close to the barrier as possible, as a metal show should be. With "O Chamado Do Bar" (The Call of the Bar), Jimmy London summoned all the headbangers to get into the drunken and debauched mood, a theme already known from his work with his former band Matanza. The fans present made it clear that they are still with Jimmy and enjoyed themselves like crazy while the band warmed up with "Meio Psicopata" (Half Psychopath), "Remédios Demais" (Too Many Pills), and "A Arte do Insulto" (The Art of Insult). At one point during the show, Jimmy London interacted with a young fan who was watching the show pressed against the barrier. The boy, who couldn't have been more than ten years old, was certainly the youngest person in the venue.
There wasn't a single song on Matanza Ritual's setlist that didn't have the fans singing along, but "Bom é Quando Faz Mal," "Clube dos Canalhas," "Pé Na Porta," "Soco Na Cara," and "Ela Roubou Meu Caminhão," which closed the show, were definitely the highlights. At the end, I even witnessed Jimmy London take off his sweat-soaked shirt, wring it out in front of the stage—it was dripping as if it had just been washed—and hand it to a lucky fan, I think.
Angra
Before Angra took the stage, the audience was warned by the production team to respect the venue's seating arrangements. With the shortest wait time among the night's shows, Angra finally took the stage at their own festival promptly at 9:30 PM, just half an hour after Matanza Ritual's performance. The pre-show warning only worked for those seated from the second row onwards, as those in the first row remained firmly at the barrier, but even so, the majority of the audience remained standing for the show of one of the biggest heavy metal bands in the country, who seemed comfortable playing once again in the southern region.
With his renowned virtuosity, Fabio Lione delivers everything right from the start with "Newborn Me," but "Nothing To Say" and "Angels Cry" clearly touch the soul of the band's biggest fans and energize the already full, though far from packed, venue. After the first four songs, vocalist Fabio Lione addresses the audience, and throughout the show he interacts more with those present, even joking that his "Portunhol" (a mix of Portuguese and Spanish) has improved considerably, a way to prepare the audience for "Late Redemption," a song that featured Milton Nascimento on the recordings and includes some Portuguese verses, sung in the show by Lione and Rafael Bittencourt . Besides the "Portunhol" moments, Lione also interacted and joked a lot with the audience, doing vocal challenges at different points in the show.
Rafael Bittencourt also spoke to the audience and briefly recounted the story of "Reaching Horizons," which is officially Angra's oldest song. Bittencourt's live acoustic version is truly moving, and it was at this moment that Andre Matos was honored again that night. Lione returned to the stage and told how he first met Andre in Italy during the promotion of the album Holy Land . Bittencourt and Lione then performed the classic "Make Believe" in a touching and intense way. Remembering that Angra was the only band of the night with ballads in their setlist, we add to the list of beautiful and emotional moments of the night the audience's participation with their cell phone flashlights during "Bleeding Heart." And as the night drew to a close, "Carry On" and "Nova Era" concluded Angra's setlist, but not the show. Fans from Rio Grande do Sul received a bonus as this was the last show of the Angra Fest tour so far. Rafael Bittencourt announced, “Let’s make a little mess,” and what followed was simply the craziest jam session, with the three bands on stage playing Iron Maiden .” It was like seeing a Renaissance painting before it became a Renaissance painting. On one side of the stage we had Antônio Araújo on guitar and Jimmy London (Matanza Ritual), just enjoying the moment. On the other side we had Felipe Machado (Viper), Felipe Andreoli and Rafael Bittencourt (both from Angra). In the background, Guilherme Martin (Viper), Marcelo Barbosa (Angra) and Amilcar Christófaro (Matanza) were banging on Bruno Valverde’s (Angra) drum kit, and Fabio Lione (Angra), Pit Passarell and Leandro Caçoilo (both from Viper) were moving from one side of the stage to the other. Juninho (bass), who had played with Matanza Ritual, wasn't seen, probably because he still had a show with Ratos de Porão to play in the neighboring city of Novo Hamburgo. Truly a unique moment! And the night only ended after the bands paid tribute to Canisso, with an image of the bassist on the screen and a cover of "Eu Quero Ver o Oco".
It's interesting to mention that none of the bands failed to pay tribute to the city of Porto Alegre on its anniversary, with Marcelo Barbosa and Fabio Lione (both from Angra) even playing a snippet of "Happy Birthday to You". And even though it was clear that the choice of auditorium for the festival was quite ambitious considering the number of people from Rio Grande do Sul who usually attend metal shows in the city, and also because the chairs were a bit of a hindrance, the shows by the iconic and historic national metal bands left the fans very satisfied and proud to have witnessed an event that provided that feeling of unity, partnership, and closeness between bands and fans.
