The highly anticipated return of Monsters of Rock to Brazil finally arrived this Saturday, April 22nd, in São Paulo. After seven years without new editions in the country, the festival kicked off its marathon of shows with the classic heavy metal of Doro , known as the queen of the genre.
Before the show, Brazilian guitarist Bill Hudson was called to the stage for an interview with organizers, which was hampered by a microphone malfunction affecting the musician, who was already there for the start of the performance.
Greeted by fans upon arrival at the airport, Doro Pesch took to the grand stage at 11:30 AM to open the day's program. The performance marked the band's first show of 2023, as well as their reunion with the Brazilian audience after almost a decade.
Facing a still somewhat rusty audience, the band delivered old-school heavy metal as promised, with a classic and captivating stage presence: choreographed formations of the guitarists and bassist, plenty of headbanging, and a tireless vocalist with a flawless performance, both in her voice and her contagious stage presence, reflecting someone who has lived metal as a lifestyle for four decades.
Dressed entirely in synthetic leather, Doro constantly called the audience to action, urging them to clap and respond with raised fists and shouts, breaking at least the first layer of the natural ice at the start of the festival.
The side stands were already quite full and the floor had a good crowd at the show, and Doro delivered an expected setlist, mixing classics from her solo career, such as "Raise Your Fist In The Air," and anthems from her Warlock days.
Despite her high-quality repertoire, which has already captivated audiences from festivals around the world, and despite being duly introduced as the queen of metal and an "original rock monster" by drummer Johnny Dee , the impression is that the audience was not sufficiently familiar with the singer's repertoire. This resulted in a still somewhat scattered reaction, leaving the chorus of "All We Are" strangely devoid of any singing along, even though this was one of the most animated moments for the audience.
Doro remained unwavering throughout the performance and warmed up the audience for the day full of acts, delivering a show worthy of a true metal icon. The performance concluded with “All For Metal”.
The singer became the first woman to perform at Monsters of Rock in 1986. At the time, she performed with Warlock at Castle Donington, England, on a night that also included Scorpions in the lineup. Even today, Doro is the only female name in the festival's lineup, which also hasn't featured other women in the headliners of previous editions of the event .
The Monsters of Rock Wikimetal full coverage here .
See the photo gallery from our contributor Leca Suzuki below (swipe to the side to see more photos).
