Edu Falaschi often says that he doesn't like to "do things just for the sake of doing them." And there is no greater proof of the vocalist's dedication, one of the biggest names in Brazilian metal during his time with Angra and, later, in Almah , than the grandiose Vera Cruz , which was immortalized in the DVD recording this past Sunday, the 21st, in a sold-out show at Tokio Marine Hall, in São Paulo.
The show celebrates 20 years of the classic album Rebirth and presents the artist's first album of original material from his solo career, released in 2021 and chosen as one of the best of the year by several specialized media outlets, including Wikimetal , with both albums presented in their entirety in a show lasting over 2 hours and 30 minutes.
With the Tokio Marine Hall packed, the audience was already chanting for the captain of that crew dressed in black, shouting "Edu, Edu, Edu!" when Junior Carelli , who plays Scar Man in the Vera Cruz , took to the stage to give an update on the DVD recording, which was filmed with 13 cinema cameras and involved more than 50 professionals.
Ten minutes later, around 8:40 PM, the intro “In Excelsis” announced the start of Rebirth on a stage that already featured the caravel and a backdrop of the cover of Angra's classic album. Inspired by stages of giants like Iron Maiden and Ronnie James Dio , the artist decided to leave the solo album for later, thus creating a narrative that allowed the elements of the stage to be revealed little by little.
Wearing the same jacket he wore during the Rebirth World Tour: Live in São Paulo (“I don’t know if you noticed,” he said later), Falaschi commanded the stage with ease, and the audience effortlessly responded to his invitations to sing along, with several moments dedicated solely to the fans' voices, but without shying away from high notes and continuous, very well-executed rhythms.
The first act of the show pays full respect to the legacy of the album beloved by generations, while also bringing fantastic new elements to the live performance, such as the perfect choirs of Fabio Caldeira and Raíssa Ramos , which stood out especially in tracks like “Heroes of Sand” and “Unholy Wars,” creating unique versions for the stage on both albums. “The DVD will be different from the album, so we’ll have two versions of Rebirth and Vera Cruz , [the studio version] and the DVD version,” the singer pointed out. “It’s funny, some versions I can only hear now, with this opening of voices, which we didn’t realize was missing before.”
READ ALSO: Angra erects a temple to the band's legacy at 'Rebirth' show in São Paulo
The first guest to take the stage was the talented and charismatic guitarist Fabio Lima, who had the stage to himself before participating in the performance of "Rebirth," as did tenor Thiago Arancam , who also had the opportunity to showcase his talent to Falaschi's audience before singing "Visions" with the artist.
The band of talented musicians was introduced after “Judgment Day,” with fervent praise from Edu Falaschi to his stage colleagues, expressing wishes for the continuation of his friendship with keyboardist Fabio Laguna and drummer Aquiles Priester , whom he met during his time with Angra. Upon descending from the drum platform to greet the audience, Aquiles emphatically stated that Edu is the guy “who changed the history of Brazilian metal, because no [national] band had ever put on a show of this magnitude” before.
Guitarist and songwriting partner Roberto Barros couldn't hide his emotion upon hearing Edu's words of admiration during the introduction and cried. “My relationship with Edu is multifaceted in many ways: first, there's Edu the idol, whom I admire, and then we became very good friends, because we spent a year and a half together, just the two of us, during the songwriting process,” he told Wikimetal . “And then to hear from a guy who's worked with everyone and you see his admiration, all of that moved me because I gave my life to that album [ Vera Cruz ], you know?”
After considering giving up his career , these moments of expressing admiration for his fellow musicians show the full meaning of Edu Falaschi's current cycle of rebirth, realizing dreams alongside a band he trusts and believes in. “That's paramount, first of all, there's a lot of respect, right? To play this kind of music, it's a life dedicated to it, completely. To record this album, I was studying fifteen hours a day, so everyone in the band has that vibe and we respect that a lot in each other, you know? The love that each one has and the dedication,” Roberto continued. “We understand that if the atmosphere is good, the whole band will flow much better.”
For Fabio Laguna, friendship is the main pillar of this monumental chapter in his history alongside Falaschi. “First and foremost, friendship. People realize there’s a good energy here, that it’s not just a band that, I don’t know, was formed with the sole purpose of making money, because there are much easier ways to make money than playing heavy metal,” he said. “[The band] is a healthy environment, of commitment and confidences. We really share not only the professional aspects, but also our life stories.”
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With the end of the Rebirth , the curtains closed and a five-minute intermission was announced. It wasn't long before the audience celebrated the screening of the intro "Burden" with the album's graphic concept on the screen. On stage, the surprise: the nun who rescued Jorge in the album's story appeared, now on a ship with a wheel and two statues identical to the cover of Vera Cruz , creating a cinematic atmosphere and a true spectacle, equally exciting for fans and artists.
“Look, at the first show, at the Wire Opera House in Curitiba, when I arrived and saw the stage ready, I sat on the stairs and cried a lot, quietly there. I gave thanks because it's not a simple thing to erect a building like that, a construction like that. A movie played in my head,” said Fabio Caldeira about the possibility of living in the story he helped create and developed in a book. “This helps us think about the concept. I think that musical and visual language dialogue, art is art. The more detailed and comprehensive it is, the more I believe it contributes to the experience.”
Bassist Raphael Dafras also spoke about the honor of this new stage alongside Falaschi. “The magnitude of everything you're seeing today is actually the result of many years of planning. When you see it all come to fruition, it's something different, isn't it? I believe it was visually impactful for the audience as well, and so was it in terms of sound,” he said. “ Vera Cruz is a powerful album, and you can tell it completely changes people's expressions when they listen to it.”
Vera Cruz tour the biggest show in Brazilian metal. This isn't a sensationalist title meant to compete with so many incredible works of Brazilian heavy music over the years, always a cradle of admirable talents in technique and emotion, but rather a recognition of the unprecedented nature – a word very well used by Caldeira in his conversation with Wikimetal – of a power metal show that explores a solid concept in music and visuals on a surprising scale, and which works very well, with an intense and effervescent reaction from the audience to an album that's only a year old.
The second act of the show features the musicians exploring the stage less, but this doesn't diminish the intensity and beauty of the performance. " Vera Cruz is a very difficult album to play, it's natural that we stay a little more still to ensure things go well, but then the stage interacts in those areas where we can't interact," guitarist Diogo Mafra .
The performance of Vera Cruz brought Carelli back to the stage, this time as the antagonist to Jorge , who also appeared, played by Fábio T. Silvério , with intense duels following the course of the story. The album, released in 2021, was very well received by the public, something that surprised even Falaschi: “It’s already a hit, right? I was so impressed to see how people are already singing it. So I’m incredibly happy.”
The next guest to take the stage was Tito Falaschi , Edu's brother, producer and musician, in "Bonfire of the Vanities," bringing Fabio Lima back. Following that, Max Cavalera in "Face of the Storm" were taken over by two generations of Brazilian metal, with the "legend" Marcello Pompeu , from Korzus , and the excellent representative of Brazilian heavy music worldwide, Fernanda Lira , from Crypta , on stage for an intense and very meaningful performance.
The audience audibly grumbled as they announced the final song of the night: “Rainha do Luar” (Queen of the Moonlight), featuring the legendary Elba Ramalho , was introduced with Edu recounting how “she treated me like a friend” during their time working together, leading the singer to declare the song “one of the most important” of his career. The presence of the Northeastern singer brought a strong emotional charge and helped to close the Vera Cruz cycle in a majestic way.
Frequently called for an encore, the band returned with full force with "Spread Your Fire," from the album Temple of Shadows , closing a night of true spectacle, not only for Brazilian metal, but for music as a whole, made without barriers of musical genre and with tangible passion transformed into a dream stage.
Behind the scenes of Edu Falaschi's grand stage.
Vera Cruz tour boasts a cinematic stage with enough investment to leave the band members "poorer," as the singer joked during the performance. In a conversation with Wikimetal after the show in São Paulo, Edu Falaschi spoke about the work involved in putting on this production. "Now, as a solo artist, I'm the one who decides, so it's easier."
As was evident in the documentary about the recording of the album, the details of the tour necessarily passed through the hands of the artist, who designed the puppets, decided on every detail of the ship, from elements to heights, and followed the manufacturing process of the pieces from the factory to the final delivery.
“I’m kind of… let’s say picky, a perfectionist, so I get involved in everything, and end up getting more tired,” he said. “But it went well, it was a really cool production, right? And I think, at least for me, I’ve never seen a national band do a production of this size, it’s incredibly difficult to do, but it happened, I’m happy. I’m tired, but I’m happy.”
And to make this amazing dream a reality, the musician relies on the support of a competent and dedicated production team. According to technical director Arthur Bevilacqua , who is accompanying the tour and is part of the setup, there are eight people involved, not counting the teams at each venue. “The entire stage setup happens simultaneously with audio and lighting, and this process takes around five to six hours. With everything finished, we can do a soundcheck with the band and prepare the final details for the show,” he said.
There are at least 40 different set elements to recreate the deck of a caravel, with a steering wheel, cannons, lamps, ropes, sails, barrels, ladders and custom-made handrails, in addition to the impressive 6.5-meter-high inflatable soldiers that look like large stone statues, not to mention effects such as jets of smoke and a shower of sparks at certain moments.
This entire structure is present in all the shows on the tour, only adhering to the limitations imposed by the size of some venues, which receive a reduced version of the production. "We realized that many venues wouldn't accommodate the initial project, so we started adapting the stage design so that we could bring the Vera Cruz to every possible stage," Arthur continued.
The intense work, which begins long before the audience arrives for the show and continues into the early hours of the morning, already seems to be paying off with the response in these first shows of the tour. "Personally, I'm very happy and fulfilled with the audience's response; it's incredible to see how much the show's production has been noticed and recognized by everyone, the media and the general public," celebrated the technical director. "We are all delivering an innovative spectacle within the Brazilian metal scene, and that is very rewarding."
See the exclusive photos taken by our contributor Wellington Penilha .
READ ALSO: Edu Falaschi shuts down power metal hater: “I loved the album and got angry at myself”
