The Marés Vivas TMN fest was celebrating this year its 10º edition so the organization decided to have 4 days of “party” instead of the usual 3. For those of you who don’t know this Portuguese festival and are too lazy to see my other poor reviews here’s what you need to know: this summer fest happens in the north of Portugal, in the other side of the Douro River, in a city called Gaia. It’s one of the biggest and cheapest festivals in Portugal if not the Cheaper (4 day ticket costing between 50€ and 60€).This festival always hosts a great variety of musical styles: Indie rock, Punk, Goth rock, pop, garage rock, funk, soul and Portuguese music as well. They’re also known for bringing top bands from the 80’s and 90’s which ultimately joins groups of all ages.
Day 1
The Sounds
The Swedish rockers entered on stage on time, but unfortunately had some technical difficulties in the first songs (probably something to do with the microphone or the amps);later on Felix’s Guitar failed in “Something to die for”, anyway the sound improved eventually. Surprisingly this was not the first time they’ve been in Portugal, but you could see that most of the public was listening to them for the first time. They reminded me a little bit of Blondie and to be honest l couldn’t found anything in their music that hasn’t been done before. Their performance was calmer than what I had expected and even when she said “It’s time to wake up” she didn’t seem to change the course the gig was taking.
Wolfmother
After this concert I’m sure the Australian rockers won a considerable number of Portuguese fans; The band has many influences from the rock movement of the 70’s, this guys knew how to take the best of these retro vibes and shaped it into a more modern rock.
They gave a pretty strong and heavy show; the most expected songs of the band were “New Moon Rising” and “Woman” and they were not afraid to play them at the very beginning. In “White Unicorn” the band played a snippet of Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd and everybody started to sing. One funny moment was when keyboardist Ian Peres started to played a little bit of Bach’s Toccata and Fugeu in D minor (i’m sure you all are familiar with. Armed with many improvisations like guitar solos and many other instruments such as maracas, harmonica and tambourine they certainly stood out from other bands that night.
Franz Ferdinand
The headliners of this day knew very well what they were preparing for the Portuguese public: they kept bombarding us with their most popular songs from their first two albums from the beginning till the end so the fans couldn’t take a breath. Sadly I found that there was little communication between the band and the fans, so I think they could have worked better in this aspect. After the first couple of songs Alex Kapranos took a chance to present two new songs “Right Thoughts” and “Scarlet Blue” from their upcoming album, which were well received.
Setlist:
1. Do you want to?
2. No you girls
3. Right Thoughts
4. Walk away
5. Scarlet & Blue **not intro**
6. Jacqueline
7. Matinee
8. The Universe Expanded
9. WTICSFIFL
10. Take me out
11. Ulysses
12. 40’
13. This Fire
14. Fallen
15. Michael
16. Outsiders
Day 2
Since very few people knew this old school Hard rock/Glam band, Mark Rankin (vocals) tried to speak in Portuguese to gain the sympathy of the public, but they served only to warmed up the scenery while most people waited for The Cult. They played songs like ”Don’t Say It’s Over” performed two songs from the new album, ”Break the Silence” and ”Butcher Man”. I think these new songs do not bring anything new to the band (maybe some changes in his voice), there is however a musical evolution to a rock a little more contemporary but somewhat generic. They left for the end the famous ”Steal your fire” and the cover of Cameo ”Word Up” were undoubtedly the songs had more membership.
The Cult
The last time The Cult came to Portugal in 2010 their performance was not the best Portuguese fans would wanted to see considering the show was a little bit too calm and smooth lacking some strength and perhaps more interaction with the audience. This time there were some changes: Ian was more talkative and dynamic on stage. The ”Old Tigers” (as they called themselves) entered on stage with a small delay, pouring incense in an attempt to create more of a goth-rock atmosphere. On the other side, some things didn’t change: like the tambourine that followed him in most of the songs and the sun glasses that he only took out at the end of the show. Ian also took the opportunity to dedicate a song to Garbage’s “very sexy lady” Shirley Manson and praised too Gaia’s river view funnily mistaking it by some kind of Sea Port where he thought Portuguese ships sailed to America.
Their repertoire was more dynamic and balanced, starting with some of their greatest hits: Lil’ Devil and Rain but presenting a few tracks from their last album such as “Choice of Weapon”, “Lucifer”, “Wolf” and “For the Animals”. I think this mixture of old and new songs gave the show more stamina and less monotony.
Setlist:
1. Lil’ Devil
2. Honey from a Knife
3. Rain
4. Lucifer
5. The Phoenix
6. Fire Woman
7. The Wolf
8. Wild Flower
9. Rise
10. For the Animals
11. She Sells Sanctuary
12. Love Removal Machine
Garbage
Well, first I have to say that I’ve read some sensationalist reviews from Garbage’s concerts claiming how ”aggressive Shirley’s temper was on stage and how this eventually distracted and deteriorated her performance and the band”. So hear me out, it’s true that Shirley entered on stage a little bit “feisty” threatening that any misbehavior from the fans that usually throws sh** up the stage or start kicking and pushing people around will not be successful during the show because she would not tolerate that kind of behavior, of course this was all embellished by phrases like “I’ll tell security guards to f*ck him up” or “I’m on my period, I could eat meat”, but I think this was intended to be funny and humorous and this kind “bad ass” attitude makes part of the whole act and it doesn’t really mean that she’s a crazy b*tch waiting on stage for anyone to f*ck up so she can’t beat the sh** out of that person, she simply doesn’t like concert bullies. Nevertheless she fell in love with the city of Porto especially the architecture because it reminded her of San Francisco and she kept in touch with the audience during the whole show always throwing compliments to their Portuguese fans. Nearing the end Shirley took the opportunity to say goodbye to their Designer since he from now on was going to work for Sigur Rós.
In terms of the repertoire they played all their greatest hits: beginning with “I Think I’m Paranoid”, “Queer” and “Stupid Girl” they choose to Play more of their first albums without forgetting their recently release album, with highlights for “Blood for Poppies”. They left the most acclaimed songs for the end: “Push it” and “Only Happy when it Rains” it was a nice trip to the 90’s
Setlist:
1. Automatic Systematic Habit
2. I Think I’m Paranoid
3. Shut your Mouth
4. Queer
5. Stupid Girl
6. Why do you love me
7. Control
8. Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)
9. Blood for Poppies
10. Special
11. You Look so Fine (snippet; audience request)
12. #1 Crush
13. Big Bright World
14. Sugar (snippet, audience request)
15. Push it
16. Vow
17. Only Happy when it Rains
Kaiser Chiefs
The night belonged to them, with almost a full enclosure and for the sake of the good times they had their last time in Portugal they gave their best delighting the fans with songs such as “Every day i love you less and less”, “Na na na na na”, “I predict a Riot” and “Ruby” everyone jumped and sang along almost in all of their songs, it was impossible not to move to the sound of their sticky pop/rock style.
Setlist:
1. Never miss a beat
2. Everything is average nowadays
3. Kinda girl you are
4. On the run
5. Good days and bad days
6. Put me on the cover of your magazine (Parva cover)
7. Na na na na na
8. Everyday i love you less and less
9. I predict a riot
10. Little shocks
11. Modern way
12. Listen to your head
13. Ruby
14. The angry mob
15. Take my temperature
Encore:
16. Heat dies down
17. Love’s not a competition (but i’m winning)
18. Oh my god
Day 3
Ebony Bones
The British singer came up on stage with a handful of musicians including two female drummers and as if that were not enough two more performers with masks in the shape of head horses playing what it looked like war drums. The very appearance of the singer with her funky hairstyle and the variety of flashy costumes she wore throughout the concert gave the show a certain visual spectacle of theatrical character. Most of the people watching the show didn’t knew who she was, although she’s quite popular in London and France for example; Portuguese festival-goers enjoyed the concert in a more curious way.
She played a Depeche Mode song “Enjoy the silence” winning the audience and in the end she played “We know all about you” which depicts an orwellian society (condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society).
Billy Idol
Billy old Billy made me feel like it was the first time I was watching a rock concert (and perhaps It was!) and I could not stop thinking, if this was a hell of a show how it would have been 30 years ago. Though calmer on stage, remains the sex symbol he was in the eighties, gaining the attention of the female audience every time he lifted his shirt proving time treated him well after all this years. He still has that sensual way of singing towards the public and great chemistry with the fans. In the other hand we also had an incredible group of musicians especially Steve Stevens who is truly a guitar virtuoso; everyone was amazed by his extremely fast riffs using rhythms inspired by Spanish guitars; during the show Steve entertained the audience with some solos while the other elements of the group took a little break with. (So did the drummer and keyboardist). Summarizing they had a good repertoire with classics well distributed throughout the show leaving the best of them for the end like “Rebel Yell” and “White Wedding” (which was played acoustic at the beginning). In ”Sweet Sixteen” Billy told the story of how he wrote the song was inspired by Edward Leedskalnin, engaged to be married to 16-year-old and moved to the United States spending 23 years with constructing the Coral Castle without outside help. Later on the band played a cover of the Doors ”L.A. Woman” changing it to “Portugal Woman” (if women were already in frenzy imagine now).Towards the end of the concert he thanked the staff and the public ”For making my life so fucking great” and after “Mony Mony”, for many the night was over.
Setlist:
1. Ready Steady Go
2. Dancing with myself
3. (Do Not) Stand in the Shadows
4. Postcards from the past
5. Flesh for Fantasy
6. Sweet Sixteen
7. Eyes without a face
8. Kings and Queens of the underground
9. Heavens inside
10. L.A. Woman
11. Steve Stevens acoustic guitar solo
12. King Rocker (generation x song)
13. Love like Fire
14. Rebel
15. Blue Highway
16. Rebel Yell
Encore:
17. White Wedding
18. Mony Mony (Tommy James & The Shondells Cover)
Gogol Bordello
It was time to dance to the sound of Gogol Bordello; everyone jumped and clapped to death or until it was over. It was well known the personal energy the band puts on their performances, especially Eugene Hütz and Pedro Erazo who were always running, screaming, climbing, dancing and jumping frantically on stage from one side to another so I’m sure no fans went home disappointed(perhaps only with broken feet!). Gogol played all their best hits and as expected people went crazy in “My Companjera” “Pala Tute” and “Start wearing Purple”.The concert lasted until quite late, but the fans resisted fatigue and most of them stayed until the end.
Setlist:
1. Intro
2. Ultimate
3. Immigrant Punl
4. Not a Crime
5. My Companjera
6. Sally
7. Immigraniada (we are comin’ rougher)
8. Wonderlust King
9. Trans-continental Hustle
10. When Universes Collide
11. Break the Spell
12. Tribal Connection
13. Pala Tute
14. Think Locally, Fuck Globally
15. Start Wearing Purple
Encore:
16. Jam Jelem
17. Santa Marinella
18. Harem in Tuscany
19. Alcohol
The Hives
I was expecting a rock show, but I sure as hell I wasn’t expecting this. I love when a band surprises me and exceeds my expectations and after reading with some skepticism that this was “one of the best rock bands in the present time” I can now confirm it. Maybe its because they seem to really love what they’re playing (or because Howlin’ Pelle is crazy) but you can see they love to play live; and, more importantly, they make sure that no one EVER forgets what a Hives show is like (I know I will not). Every gig has something different that makes it unique, and they certainly appear to be pros at crafting just that. They have a huge ease transmitting their frantic adrenaline to the fans and the power to liberate the most inhibited audiences unleashing that rock spirit that I thought lost in the 60’s/70’s.
First they entered the stage looking like XIX century dandies dressed in tail coats and started communicating with the audience; I have to say, Pelle is the chattiest person I’ve ever seen on stage. Always making funny comments and making the audience clap, jump, and sit to his command. (Just like the puppeteer image they had on stage). one of the funniest moments of the night was when Pelle noticed some fan with a sign that said something like “Please let me play the bass part in “Hate to say I told you so” pls pls pls”; so Pelle asked the boy to climb up the stage granting him his wish by saying “Don’t fuck this up” in the end Pelle asked his name and that’s how Miguel will tell this story to his grandsons one day. Another funny moment was at the end of the show when he asked people to sit down (in Portuguese) saying if people didn’t sit down then Anastacia wouldn’t play so you can picture a massive wave of people quickly standing up and laughing. It was a joyful experience and I think any rock lover should have the opportunity to see a band of this caliber.
Setlist:
1. Come on!
2. Try it again
3. Take back the Toys
4. 1000 Answers
5. Main Offender
6. Walk Idiot Walk
7. My Time is coming
8. No Pun Intended
9. Wait a Minute
10. These Spectacles Reveal the Nostalgic
11. I want more
12. Die, all right!
13. Civilization’s dying
14. Won’t be long
15. Tick Tick Boom
Encore:
16. Go right ahead
17. Hate to say I told you so
18. Patrolling Days
Anastacia
Honestly, I hate to say it but this was the least exciting concert of the night. I thought her shows were more energetic, I was waiting to see dancers and choreographies but instead we got too many spiritless songs. I think most of us were expecting to see more of the funky side of “Out of love” and “Not that Kind”. At one moment the microphone failed, but she seemed like an easy-going woman and made jokes like “At least now you know that I’m singing”; later on someone from the public threw him one of those pageant sash and started to talk like the brainless blondes that pray for world peace, it was funny I’ll give her that. She played a cover from Jay-Z “Empire state of mind” and a song she sang with Eros Ramazzotti “I Belong to you” where the chorister Maria who is Italian sang his part.
Setlist:
1. Why’d you lie to me?
2. Sick and tired
3. Cowboys and kisses
4. Welcome to my truth
5. Deeper love
6. Not that kind
7. Pieces of a dream
8. I belong to you (il ritmo della passione)
9. Empire state of mind
10. Paid my dues
11. One day in your life
12. Left outside alone
Encore:
13. I’m outta love
Summarizing this edition has fulfilled expectations in terms of quality and the variety of musical styles they brought,this was reflected by the number of people who attended the festival during these 4 days (about 95,000); the concerts ran smoothly, without major delays or serious technical problems.Hopefully the Organization continues to exceed expectations of the Portuguese people and continue to invest in diversity and affordability that have become so popular on the national scene.
