When the I Wanna Be Tour was announced, many people rushed to secure the opportunity to see the bands that marked the adolescence of a generation playing together. Since its announcement, the festival has been one of the most talked-about topics on the internet and among groups of friends who met at concerts and never separated again, or who made plans to reunite on Saturday morning, the 2nd, at Allianz Parque in São Paulo.
The opening of the festival couldn't have fallen into the hands of a better band than the biggest representative of the movement in Brazil. Fresno was the only band that remained active and constantly reinventing itself since the explosion of emo here in the mid-2000s. The band's constant maturation is largely due to the friendship between Lucas Silveira and Gustavo Mantovani, not to mention the enormous renewal that Thiago Guerra brought when he took over the drums.
For those expecting a still timid and rather empty Allianz Parque early in the morning, it was a surprise to see more than 25,000 people filling the stadium and singing along to every hit that Fresno brought to their setlist. The band has fans all over the country, who passionately sang each song with their hearts until they lost their voices, as they did with "Quebre As Correntes," a timeless hit that marked the band's success on the beloved MTV .
Lucas was visibly moved to see his fans throwing celebratory balloons with the band's latest single, "Eu Nunca Fui Embora," painting the stadium turquoise, the color chosen for the band's new phase, which is approaching with their upcoming album, scheduled for release on April 5th.
The second act, the first international one of the day, was the American band Plain White T's . The band, known for their big hit "Hey There Delilah," played for the first time in Brazil. Vocalist Tom Higgenson invited Day Limns to share the stage and sing their biggest hit.
Mayday Parade was the third band of the day, also making their Brazilian debut. The band not only energized the crowd with their pop-punk, but also touched the emotions of the fans present, who were able to hear the band play one of their most popular songs, which often gets left out of the setlist, "Miserable at Best." In a moment of great emotion, the stadium sang along with the band to every phrase loud and clear.
Pitty brought her 20th-anniversary tour of "Admirável Chip Novo" as the fourth act. In a historic show, the Bahian singer showed why she is one of the biggest names in Brazilian rock, commanding her audience and asking for mosh pits to open up throughout the stadium, a request promptly granted by the fans. With hits like "Teto de Vidro," "Equalize," and "Na sua estante," Pitty heard Allianz Parque sing along to every song, being deservedly revered for the incredible show that marked the I Wanna Be Tour.
The next show was Boys Like Girls , the band returning to Brazil after a long wait for fans who were able to hear “Thunder”, “Hero/Heroine” and “The Great Escape”. Between shows, the festival featured fun activations from Vans, the brand brought photo booths, giveaways and a t-shirt cannon in all sections of the stadium.
The band Asking Alexandria returned to the country for the first time without one of its founders, Ben Bruce , who decided to leave the band to spend more time with his family. The reunion with their fans couldn't have been better, Danny Worsnop interacted with the audience the whole time and right at the beginning of the show said he remembered how insane the band's fans were here. Danny screamed impressively and had as much fun as the fans who opened up mosh pits throughout the stadium. A highlight was the performance of the drummer, James Cassells .
Another show that featured a special guest was The Used. The band, with over 20 years of experience and highly recognized in the scene for its importance, invited the equally important Lucas Silveira (Fresno) to sing the last song of the show, "A Box Full of Sharp Objects." The band returned to the country after their last appearance as the opening act for Evanescence in 2012.
Returning to pop-punk, All Time Low was the eighth act of the day, just as the sky was beginning to darken over Allianz Parque. The band took advantage of the late afternoon sky and played hit after hit, while also including some songs from their most recent album, Tell Me I'm Alive, released in 2023 – songs played for the first time for their São Paulo fans.
The quartet has a fun dynamic on stage, with Alex Gaskarth (vocals and guitar) and Jack Barakat (guitar) having completely nonsensical dialogues and double entendres all the time, reminiscent of Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus from Bblink-182, one of All Time Low's biggest inspirations. The songs "Monsters" and the emblematic "Dear Maria, Count Me In" were chosen to close the band's show.
The All American Rejects , a group that broke out in the mid-2000s with "Dirty Little Secrets," was one of the international attractions of the festival. The band left another big hit, "Gives You Hell," for the end of the setlist.
NX Zero returned to the stadium, where they reunited with fans who couldn't attend last year's shows, as well as those who needed to see their idols again after the historic performances at the stadium. Opening with “Além de mim” (Beyond Me), the band didn't leave out important songs from the setlist, such as “Apenas Um Olhar” (Just One Look), a song that showcased the band's potential to the entire country on MTV .
One of the official anthems of Brazilian emo, “Razões e Emoções” (Reasons and Emotions) was the penultimate song of the show, where once again NX Zero showed they have a very loyal audience, having marked a generation just like Fresno and Pitty.
Double bass pedals, screams, and many, many mosh pits. That was the atmosphere of the A Day To Remember . The band knows the country well, and as we could see at Lollapalooza 2022, they know how to put on an excellent festival show. Without mercy for their audience, the group started the show with “The Downfall of Us All” and “All I Want”. In one of the most energetic shows of the day, the group transformed the I Wanna Be Tour into a huge mosh pit by playing “Mr. Highway's Thinking About the End”, with fans opening up gigantic mosh pits in the penultimate show of the night.
The closing act of the first edition of the I Wanna Be Tour was Simple Plan , the Canadian band that helped popularize the style worldwide and whose songs live on in the imagination of those who grew up listening to the teenage melodrama of "Welcome To My Life".
"Do you ever feel like breakin' down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just don't belong And no one understands you"
In a show worthy of a festival finale, making the audience expend all their remaining energy jumping and singing, the band even invited Di Ferrero (NX Zero) to sing "I'm Just a Kid," as had happened at the previous night's show at Vibra SP.
With bands that have marked the lives of many people, a packed Allianz Parque, and space for essential bands in the emo movement in Brazil, the first edition leaves us eager for a possible next edition.
It was never just a phase, Mom.
Our contributor Marcela Lorenzetti was also at the event and captured the evening with exclusive photos. Check out the gallery below.
