To the thousands upon thousands of readers who didn't sleep a wink last night, awaiting my impressions of the first day of the second and final week of Rock in Rio, I'm letting you know in advance that this will be a shorter report than usual. The reason? It's 5:17 AM on Friday, September 9th, and only now, back in my temporary home for this week (a very pleasant apartment in Ipanema, very close to the sea), am I sitting down to write these brief lines before Morpheus completely takes over my eyelids and all is lost. In a few hours we'll be back at the City of Rock for our last adventure at the mega-festival, and my account of the day that passed needs to reach the world before then.
Some attentive readers may be curious as to why it took me so long to find my way back “home” and ready to write these paragraphs. To them I say: let's not get ahead of ourselves! I propose that we start from the beginning and follow through. At some point everything will be answered and this text will be finished before you know it.
The beginning, in this case, would be the first show of the day on the Sunset Stage, the main stage after the World Stage. When Duda Beat entered the stage in her black, spiked outfit, for a moment I felt that déjà vu from Metal Day last week , but the Pernambuco native's pop-hearted heartbreak songs, sung in chorus at the top of their lungs by those present under the scorching sun, quickly snapped me out of my reverie. But then came déjà vu number two.
As in several shows last week, the crowd was telling the president to go to hell, and this time they even doubled down and added some "Lula" chants to the mix. Gloria Groove then delivered a powerful show on the same stage, with lots of dancing, accompanied by a band, a string quartet, and a nod to rock that fit beautifully into the overall sound. Like at Duda Beat's show, the crowd sang along enthusiastically with Gloria. This, in fact, would be a constant throughout the day: lots of audience participation, many people knowing the lyrics by heart.
Francisco el Hombre band's show on the Supernova stage, which created a real carnival atmosphere amidst Rock in Rio. And just to briefly return to another of our constant themes among the national acts, the political aspect, the Francisco el Hombre show began with an MST (Landless Workers' Movement) flag raised and a chant promptly followed by the audience: "Jumping, jumping! Anyone who doesn't jump is a militia member!" Beautiful show, good energy, an audience that seemed right at home.
Regarding the foreigners I saw that day, I can't say they're very up-to-date on our politics, but despite not everything being perfect (or very little being perfect), everything I had the chance to see was good for one reason or another.
The Offspring , on the main stage, delivered classic hits and a high-energy, well-executed show. A negative point was the images of the musicians on the screens, which had too many effects and animations superimposed, significantly hindering the visibility for those far from the stage. I don't know, maybe it has something to do with vanity.
Jessie J seemed to bring the sun back when she took the Sunset stage at 9:15 PM, not only by shining metaphorically, due to her powerful vocals and the time she dedicated to talking to the audience between songs, but also by shining literally, because of her beautiful golden scale costume. And forgive me, readers who understand costumes, if the name of that thing isn't "golden scales."
The best show of the night, in my humble opinion, was by the Italian band Måneskin . Enviable energy, absurd charisma, an Oscar for best use of stage by a supporting band! They would also win if there were an award for throwing themselves into the crowd without a shred of fear of being happy (or of being stabbed), especially bassist Victoria De Angelis . That girl throwing herself into the crowd and laughing as if someone were tickling her was a sight to behold.
Besides, don't they actually have some good songs? It's true that some rock purists will turn their noses up at their pop leanings and the way they overuse some hard rock clichés on stage. For my part, this is the second time I've had the opportunity to see them live, and I confess that (not without overcoming initial skepticism) I found myself compelled to give them a place in my heart.
The tribute to Queen with the performance of "Love of My Life," so important in the history of Rock in Rio, seemed quite honest to me, but I don't doubt that many heartless people think it's rubbish. In any case, I think Måneskin is a perfect fit for Rock in Rio. At the very least, he deserves the trophy for the show that best combined people zip-lining in front of the stage in this edition. And that's also a compliment, just to clarify!
Now, my dear reader, the moment has finally arrived to reveal the reason for my prolonged suffering, still writing while I listen to life beginning once more in Rio de Janeiro through the window. The answer is actually quite simple. I was a child in the 80s and a teenager in the early 90s, and Guns N' Roses was one of the bands that meant something to me at that time.
Nobody demanded that I stay until the end of the show on the World Stage, but my 30-year-old self felt it was necessary, and since Axl Rose and company played a nearly 3-hour show, it messed up the schedule a bit. The fact that our transportation this week, an Uber ride plus a shuttle , turned out to be a terrible choice (due to absurd slowness) exponentially increased the messiness of the schedule, and the result was an inhuman sacrifice of my much-needed rest.
Well, I already mentioned in one of the previous paragraphs which show I thought was the best of the night, and I stand by my position, but I think a few points about Guns N' Roses deserve to be highlighted. First of all, the criticism regarding Axl Rose's lack of breath control and ability to hit high notes has been around for a while, but it's not unfounded. Of course, he doesn't sound like he did in the '80s. But I'm happy to say that, more often than I expected, his voice did show up. I also think he deserves an eleven out of ten just for the effort, which is genuine.
To keep the show going, Axl takes several breaks, using them to change his outfit and probably gargle some miraculous concoction while the band, and especially Slash, hold the show together. Incidentally, another point I've been meaning to mention for a while now is that the iconic guitarist and the other band members are still doing a fantastic job.
For a moment, during the performance of "You Could Be Mine," I went back in time and thought I was in that music video where Schwarzenegger 's Terminator is making his way through the crowd at a Guns N' Roses concert, but it was just some inexplicable guy dressed as Batman. I still don't understand it. It was a shower of classics and a barrage of Slash solos, and all things considered, I left Rock City exhausted but satisfied.
I'll continue to turn a blind eye to Mr. Rose's diminished vocal ability, but mainly to the fact that his costume changes didn't include any lycra shorts. Just kidding, I'm grateful that nothing like that is part of his wardrobe.
We'll be heading to Rock City soon for one last time at this edition. If the chosen transport has empty seats, I'll sleep on the way there.
Check out exclusive photos from Rock Day at Rock in Rio 2022 taken by Rafael Beck :
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