Black Pantera was the band responsible for representing the headbangers at Lollapalooza Brazil this Sunday, the 26th, in a show that brought heavy and loud sound to the Adidas stage, with tributes from Racionais MCs to Blink-182 , and raised powerful social criticisms – including of the festival itself.
An outlier in the festival's alternative rock scene, the band was scheduled to perform in the first slot, at 12:40 PM, just over an hour after the gates opened. While we can point out the problem of leaving a band like Rise Against isolated on Friday night , the situation was even less favorable for the trio from Minas Gerais, since getting to the Interlagos racetrack is a challenge, especially on Sunday, at one of the stages furthest from the entrances.
Even so, the band managed to gather a surprisingly large audience for the time slot, which grew as the performance went on, and the crowd responded with energy right from the start with "Padrão É o Caralho".
The band's presence at the festival is an interesting and necessary contradiction to the event's logic, since the undeniably elitist environment of Lollapalooza Brazil is part of the target of Black Pantera's fierce and direct criticism – and the band didn't back down at any point.
In light of the shocking news of the rescue of workers in conditions analogous to slavery during the setup of the event, the band's stance on the matter was explicit: "There is no place for slave owners today."
In the song "Fire on the Racists," the band called on the audience to sing loudly and "burn any racist son of a bitch" in the place, changing the lyrics of the bridge to encompass other oppressors who figuratively deserve to be burned. "Fire on the racists! Fire on the fascists! Fire on the chauvinists! Fire on the slave owners!" shouted Charles, strongly accompanied by the audience.
To those who complain about the band's "excessive" activism, as if racism were a non-urgent issue, Black Pantera puts on a show not only in their discourse, but also in their captivating sound and contagious stage presence, especially in tracks like "Godzilla," where the overwhelming combination of guitar, bass, and drums is an absolute highlight.
At this point, as he does on stages of all sizes, from free band shows to Rock In Rio , the vocalist comes down to play guitar and headbang in the middle of the crowd, who join in a circle with the musician. This energy of connection, of performing the show together with Black Pantera, fueled the exclusive women's mosh pit under the scorching show and created a death wall at Lolla .
Black Pantera plays Blink-182 classic at Lollapalooza
Another highlight of the show was the unexpected cover of “I Miss You” by Blink-182 , who were supposed to perform at the festival last Saturday, the 25th, but cancelled their appearance this year. With Chaene on vocals, the band slowed down considerably, but showed a different facet of their own musicality and the tribute was very well received by the audience. “We really wanted to see it and it didn’t happen,” they explained.
Other tributes were also made: Elza Soares was applauded before Black Pantera's version of "A Carne," with a snippet of "Negro Drama" by Racionais MC's sung in the middle of the song. Marielle Franco was also remembered on the screen.
In the blink of an eye, the show responsible for opening the third and final day of the festival passed, impressing even fans of other bands who were waiting for the venue. Despite the isolation as a metal band in a predominantly pop and indie event, the challenging schedule, and all the problems of this and other large Brazilian festivals, Black Pantera didn't get this far without knowing how to conquer the space. And with a show full of technique, groove, irresistible heaviness, and meaning beyond the music, that's exactly what they did at Lollapalooza .
See the photos from our contributor Renan Facciolo below.
Labor analogous to slavery at Lollapalooza 2023
According to an article in Folha de São Paulo , inspections by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) at the festival facilities revealed that workers hired by a service provider for Lolla were in degrading conditions, working 12-hour days, unable to return home, and sleeping on mattresses to provide security for beverage crates at night.
Despite complaints from previous editions, the production company Time For Fun stated in a note sent to the newspaper that it "considers this an isolated incident, vehemently repudiates it, and will maintain a strong stance against any breach of rules by outsourced companies."
