MEO Kalorama. The latest summer festival is born in Portugal
The first day of MEO Kalorama, the ‘newest’ summer festival to invade the Portuguese capital, and the last of the summer, had a little bit of everything: the harmonic and ethereal melody of Rodrigo Leão, the Colombian electronic folklore of Bomba Estéreo and the eternal electronic anthems of the British The Chemical Brothers and also the Germans Kraftwerk and Moderat.
They danced, sang and vibrated to the sound, mainly, of the electronics that emanated from the stages of the new festival, whose first day was made of ups and downs, still closing with a ‘golden key’ on the main stage with a The Chemical Brothers’ performance that has out-of-this-world reach. The same can be said of the veterans, however, with the sound problems that took some quality away from the concert.
RELATIONSHIP
Arriving at Parque da Bela Vista, where the first MEO Kalorama festival takes place until Saturday, it is not difficult to see that this ‘party’ has just been born: festivals are still cheap at the first of the right tickets for your type of search for ticket, or the stages… the signage is not always enough and the staff members themselves are getting to know the corners of the house.
The comparison with Rock in Rio is almost immediately. After all, the two festivals share the same space… but little else. After all, Kalorama is still a baby and occupies only part of the enclosure, noting the presence of much less ‘tents’ and organized energy or vehicle advertising content, actively with the mastodon by Roberta Medina.
Still, not so the first day of this new festival was a ‘flop’. On the contrary. Around 40,000 people were expected and, as far as it was possible to ascertain from the atmosphere, this number would have been very close to reality.
The day started at 4 pm with the project by Curadoria Chelas É o Sítio, coordinated by Sam The Kid, the resonant name of this Lisbon neighborhood that will see its project kick off each of the three days of the festival. It was at 5 pm, however, that the main stage was inaugurated by Rodrigo Leão and his accompanying orchestra. On a day when most visitors were looking for the electronics of the British The Chemical Brothers and the Germans Kratfwerk and Moderat, there were those who looked with curiosity at the choice of this line-up, since their music could not be further from their children. dissonant and eclectic of some of the other names on the poster.
Still, there was a lot to say about the performance of the former member of Madredeus and Sétima Legião, who released in 2020 The method.
It was this album, in fact, that from the first themes of the concert, in which Leão, sober in his style, presented himself wishing Kalorama “long life”. There was also space for an unprecedented version of the classic Pasión, in a concert that seemed to clash with the rest of the festival stage’s vibe, but which, even so, managed to capture the attention of the handful of festivals that gathered around MEO, commonly known as the main stage. of this festival, located in a valley style that promised to fill up as the night approached.
Blake thrills
The first day of the first edition of Kalorama was divided between two nationalities, mainly: British and German. On the one hand, Kraftwerk and Moderat brought a Germanic touch to Bela Vista Park, but, on the other, the heads of The Chemical Brothers were joined by fellow countrymen James Blake and Years & Years.
Indeed, James Blake occupies the main stage of the festival as the sun sets, in keeping with his style of romantic music that mixes electronics with R&B and soul. A big dose of Friends That Break Your Heart, their fifth studio album, released in 2021, is expected. And so it was.
The MEO stage was filled with a curious audience that was curious behind the Colina Stage, where Xinobi had just marveled. It Was Blake’s Time, released with Life Round Here, 2013 album, overgrown. Before, Limit to Your Love Say What You Will, with the help of, continue the set of the public quedade já ter ‘sau de Portugal, where he was in 2019, at NOS Primavera Sound.
As the sun went down, Blake sang and enchanted, bouncing between Love Me In Whatever Way, Mile High and CMYK, with a rarity on the set: You’re Too Precious, for a lot of audiences from, which was beginning to enchant for engines to what was there.
The Olly Alexander Orchestra
It was up to the Colombians Bomba Estéreo to make, from the secondary stage, the ‘bridge’ between the British James Blake and Years and Years on the main stage, and, despite the great sound of the group responsible for ‘Fuego quality’, which mixes Colombian folklore with electronic music, the poor technical sound work on Palco Colina – commonly known as a secondary stage – left a lot to be desired on the Colombians’ set.
As soon as the lights went out on the secondary stage, however, the masses turned to the MEO Stage, where Olly Alexander, who had not forgotten his visit to Portugal in 2016, at the time to step on the main stage of NOS Alive, prepares to bring back some of their quirky pop, almost sounding like a ‘modern’ version of the Pet Shop Boys.
“So, hot ones?”, joked the Brit, in Portuguese, after filling Bela Vista Park with Sweet Talker and Shine.
If, in 2016, the album in the hands of the Communion era, Years and Years arrived at Kalorama more mature, more complete, with Night Call, their third studio album, released in January of the year, low arm.
The night played the safest and most solid concert to its presentation in Portugal, with the safest and most solid concert, and together with a real show in Portugal but also visual, with each theme accompanied by a set of video conditioner and lights.
Kraftwerk with little adhesion
One of the most interesting names on this first night at Kalorama were the Germans Kraftwerk, pioneers of German electronic music and unmistakable names when talking about the world of synthesizers, their fascination with the beginnings of programming and European electronic music.
Again, however, as with Bomba Estéreo, the failure of the sound on the secondary stage ended up creating some emotion in the concert, which, perhaps, due to this problem or a simple lack of interest on the part of the public, was detailed from the beginning. .
Perhaps also, to the rhythm, 2ManyJs started their same concert, T probably, too, gradually, the attention of the time, at first, was abandoning the German concert. However, those who wanted to see this duo were unlucky, as the concert ended after a few minutes, precisely due to the overlapping of noise with what the Germans played.
Welcoming the themes, however, getting used to keeping the world: side by side. , each controlling their own ‘T’-shaped ‘console’.
For lovers of the 70’s band, however, the night was a delight: Das Model, Tour de France, Radioactivity and Autobahn, among other themes, are some of the best known of their discography, which spanned several decades.
The visual spectacle left nothing to be desired, unlike the sound, which ‘saved’ the concert by the Germans, which preceded the headliner for this first day of the festival in Bela Vista: the British The Chemical Brothers
Brotherly Love
The clock struck 11:30 pm when The Chemical Brothers took to the MEO Stage, and already the masses energetically surrounded the main stage of the newborn MEO Kalorama.
And what energy invaded Bela Vista Park. For an hour, together, they were born, against a cosmos brothers of lights, children coming from the brothers of the earth, you could see the desire to dance, to the sound of the themes, of the most British duo of whom, who entered, Manchester in 1989.
A sea of people stared at the Kalorama main stage for the last – and main – ‘big’ concert of the night, and how expectations were, to say the least, exceeded. The rule was to dance, dance and dance until you couldn’t go anymore. Everything shook in the MEO Kalorama venue to the sound of the Chemical Brothers, who went to the trunk with classics like Hey Boy Hey Girl and Setting Sun.
Palco ME turned into a free electronic music disco, with plastic hand balls and everything like electric beats by the British duo and the rays of light that most appeared lasers emanating from the plastic stage.
The MEO Kalorama day was closed, mixing genres simultaneously and cashing in on the perks, with several other times at the same time being presented with the first of their highs. The closing of the night was the responsibility of the Germans Moderat and the Brazilian Marina Sena.
The second day of Kalorama features Arctic Monkeys as headliners, but the same day will also feature The Legendary Tigerman, Alice Phoebe Lou, Roisin Murphy and Bruno Pernadas.