The third and final day of our coverage at Rock in Rio 2022 began unpleasantly hot, and the urge to drop everything and head to the sea (which I could see from my apartment window) was real, and I confess without a shred of shame that I almost succumbed. But a sense of duty prevailed in the end, and we began preparing for the final undertaking. I used up my last clean, light-colored t-shirts in the previous days, and precisely for the day with the sun that seemed the most scorching, I had to resort to one of the black ones, the kind that guarantees the absorption of sunlight like no other, in case you haven't noticed the faux pas. I opted, at least, for the Edgar Allan Poe , a gentleman who also wrote some reviews in his time. That way, even while sweating profusely, I would at least feel somewhat supported and certainly inspired in the mission to be completed.
I feel obligated to justify the delay in the text about the so-called Pop Punk day, also known as the fifth day of Rock in Rio. Because we returned to our accommodations in the early hours of the morning and had to begin the process of returning to São Paulo the following day, the delivery schedule for this final coverage suffered a bit, and I publicly apologize to my loyal readers who, by this point, driven by pure paranoia, have already started forming search parties to find my body on some beach in Barra da Tijuca. You'll have to pretend nothing happened after Friday. No Coldplay , no Maria Rita , Camila Cabello , no Djavan or Dua Lipa . Pretend nothing else came out in the media. Don't lose focus. What matters is what you'll learn through these lines. But without further ado, let's go:
Our final day spent at Rock City began with plenty of sunshine and crowds everywhere, a combination that, far from the beach, makes absolutely no sense, in my humble opinion. Inevitably, these are factors that could affect the desire to party and even work (imagine that!) for most people, and who am I to stand apart from the majority at this moment? That said, we still managed to stroll in the sun and check out some attractions while making the task much more bearable with the invaluable help of a few pints of beer. In this adventurous spirit of the bustling and vibrant avenues and alleys of Rock City, we went in search of stories to tell and photos to take.
We witnessed an enthusiastic and acrobatic Can-Can dance at the opening of the Rock Street Mediterrâneo stage, where we soon saw the cheerful Terra Celta, the "resident" band there throughout the Festival. We saw multi-instrumentalist Rodrigo Sha with his saxophone going from Pink Floyd to Hava Nagila in a single breath, we saw Marvvila and her guests on the Favela stage representing the strength of Rio's women in pagode music, and as the sun began to set, we were impressed by the set design and the mobile platforms that lifted singer Jão and part of his orchestra high into the air in a truly unusual maneuver on the Sunset stage.
A large part of Jão's performance was planned as an enthusiastic tribute to Cazuza and his show at the first Rock in Rio in 1985, and this couldn't have been more in line with the overall tone of the festival and that particular day. I'm referring to a whole conceptual effort to bring together the "old" and the "new," which can be easily observed in the emphasis the festival's communication places on the idea that this whole party can be something for entire families to enjoy together. And this idea, however positive it may seem, when the subject is "good old" rock and roll, becomes instantly controversial. After all, if you understand that part of being "rock" is being rebellious, going to a show with your father, the ultimate authority figure in your home, might sound absurd to you. Parents with children, grandparents with grandchildren, or, in the words of Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters : "Human sacrifice, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria!"
But this isn't where (or anywhere else, I believe) we'll exhaust this subject. In any case, the meeting of the old with the new that the festival likes to see and put on stage wasn't limited to Jão paying tribute to Cazuza in his show. Earlier in the evening, also on the Sunset stage, we arrived at the show called "1985: The Tribute," whose purpose was precisely to bring veteran artists who played at the inaugural edition of the Festival to perform alongside new artists, with shows scheduled for the current edition.
The collaborations yielded some very emotional moments, even though the whole show ended up being somewhat of a schizophrenic patchwork quilt, musically speaking. There was Xamã rapping and paying homage to Ivan Lins, who, besides singing excerpts from his greatest hits, also found a way to make a political statement. Not at all discreetly, the musician made a cheeky "L" hand gesture, to the delight of that omnipresent chorus in the festival audience whose mastery lies in the execution of the now-classic "Hey, Bolsonaro, go fuck yourself!", which obviously rose from the crowd once again. There was Alceu Valença masterfully manipulating that same choir, only with many "ai-ai-ai" and "o-io-io-ii" sounds; there was Pepeu Gomes, Liniker, Blitz, Agnes Nunes, Elba Ramalho , and if I'm not forgetting anyone, there was also Andreas Kisser who, among other things, played guitar for Luiza Sonza Queen 's "Love of My Life ," in a tribute whose "brilliant idea" Måneskin mischievously "sabotaged" by doing (no comparisons here, please) the same thing the day before.
For “1985: The Tribute,” I was near the pit and a sort of VIP area in front of the stage, and I believe it was the highest concentration of national celebrities per square meter I've ever seen there. Everyone was very smiley, from Chay Suede and João Vicente to Isabeli Fontana and Renata Ceribelli, Roberto Medina himself , the festival's creator, who proudly waved to the mere mortals squeezed against the safety barrier. Personally, it always seemed more appropriate to me that any kind of VIP area should be about 300 meters from the stage, behind the sound booth and some trees or lampposts, if there are any. Perhaps sharing space with the band's merchandise stand. Just throwing out the idea.
Billy Idol's performance on the World Stage was the most nostalgic show of the day for me. In the dance parties of the late 80s, where (bizarrely by today's standards) the boys brought soda and the girls brought a snack or sweet treat, I danced a lot to slow songs like "Eyes Without a Face" or, rather awkwardly, rock songs like "Dancing With Myself" and "Rebel Yell." The show by the 66-year-old Brit, the conceptual brother (or uncle) of our beloved Supla , was far from the best of the night, with some very evident problems. The execution of some songs suffered, starting precisely with that close-dancing one I mentioned before, "Eyes Without a Face," when the musician stopped and restarted several times but couldn't find whatever he had missed. "Mony Mony" that followed was also tough.
I can't say what the cause of the problem was. Lack of feedback? Drunkenness? Memory problems? Indigestion? Kidney? Hard to say, and I don't really want to know. I would have preferred him to have killed it at the show, and that could have transported me more powerfully back to the years of dance parties, but I accept what I get. It was good to see Billy's faces up close, his "Yeaaahh!", his "Come on!", and the way he gave himself a motivational pep talk to overcome the obstacles in the middle of the show and then went all the way to the end. Oh, the band, in general, was very good, and I found the new songs, which I didn't know, quite appealing on first listen.
I don't have the same nostalgic connection with Green Day , but it's undeniable that the show by the band led by another Billie, Billie Joe Armstrong , was the best of the night and probably one of the best at Rock in Rio. A rare creative use of the screens at Rock in Rio, with good animations and well-placed effects on top of the images captured on stage. Strong and clear sound. Impeccable band. As for Billie Joe, his vocal performance was top-notch and he commanded the show even more, with plenty of interaction with the crowd, a marriage proposal on stage, and a fan climbing up to play guitar up there too. One of the most enthusiastic audiences, for sure. People singing along the whole time, and at one point a beautiful mosh pit , just girls, very close to me. Memorable.
Of course, more noteworthy things happened, but as I mentioned before, I haven't yet developed any kind of omnipresence, and I think I'm even losing what little ability to synthesize information I have. It might be the change in temperature. I'm finishing this text in São Paulo, where it's much colder and nothing reminds me of Rock in Rio anymore. I can't guarantee anything, but if I think I still have crucial information to share with you, I'll be back.
Rafael Beck 's photos below!
