Tim Festival 2007: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO – The entire festival reunited about 57,100 people between October 25th and 29th. Last year, the Festival had about 52,000 people in four cities. In 2005 there were 61,000 in just São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
Tim Festival had 26 international artists and 16 Brazilian ones this year.
Tim Festival – Rio de Janeiro
The structure here was quite huge in despite of beauty. It had four stages, three tents and a social area with a stage (for three Brazilian bands and DJs), stores, snack bars and a few stands with popcorn and hot dogs.
My ticket was to get in Novas Divas Stage, with Katia B, Cibelle, Feist and Cat Power. Feist had a problem and she couldn’t come, being replaced by Antony and the Johnsons, for my happiness.
Kátia B opened the show with some kind of eletronic and pop mixing both styles and singing in Portuguese. I preferred to watch it sitting on the stalls on the right side of the stage. Her show was ok in my own opinion.
After that, it was time to check out the Antony and the Johnson’s performance. He is a very nice guy and made people laugh when he said: “As you can see, i’m not Feist, she’s thinner than me.” He performed some songs from his lastest album, I Am A Bird Now such as Hope There’s Someone, My Lady History, and honestly, tears came to my eyes when he sang You Are My Sister. He performed a cover of Candy Says from his “godfather” Lou Reed, and also The Lake – an adaptation of Edgar Alan Poe’s poem – recorded for one of his EPs.
Invariablebly, Antony let slip an “ok, that’s it”, even before the last chord finish in each song, always smiling shyly. The shy Antony, his piano and a bed of strings of his Johnsons have done the best, in spite of the smallest show of Tim Festival this year.
Then, one hour later, Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power) and her support band, The Dirty Delta Blues, got on the stage showing self-trust and beauty. Currently in her sober and happier phase, she was wearing a tie and men shoes.
Marshall performed almost all songs of her last work The Greatest. It started with Don’t Explain, followed by The Greatest and I lost Someone. Blues influenced guitarrist Judah Bauer – ex member of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -, the simple drums of oldschool rocker Jim White and the Australian trio Delta Three, helped Marshall loosen up on the stage.
Those who enjoy her classic hits, would have missed her rough and obscure charm, typical of her old times. Her voice is powerful and hoarse, and sometimes remit me Janis Joplin. She walked around the stage all the time, said some words in Portuguese and threw kisses for the public. The entire show lasts about 1:20 min. With I’ve Been Loving You she left the stage, acclaimed by the public.
Tim Festival – São Paulo
São Paulo is in another state and I had to travel 6 hours by bus to get in Tim Festival there. I decided to travel because I think it would be cheaper than here, and it was. Cheap and nasty I would say. Although their seductive cast, they come up short in their structure, sound power and decoration.
I arrived late because of the traffic, having no place near to park and paying an absurd for it when finally found one. Missed Spunk Rock Show, I got in the middle of Hot Chip’s show and – what I could see – it was quite good.
After that it was Bjork’s turn. Her show was an odd experience. If you didn’t see her performing on the stage, you must watch her performance at least once in life. Her lemurs synths and the ReacTable gave a show of their own. In her setlist, classic songs – such as Pagan Poetry and Hunter which she threw artificial spiderwebs on people – and a couple new ones, Innocence and Declare Independence.
Next show: Julliette And The Licks, which tried and tried but their performance in my opinion was just ok. They performed songs by their last album Four And The Four and the geatest song performed was their single Hot Kiss. Nothing more, nothing less.
I must admit it: Arctic Monkeys is a great band on the stage. I’m not a fan of the band and I hoped for a warm show, but it was exactly the inverse: they’re united and captivating band. I must also say the best sequence was Fake tales of San Francisco, Balaclava, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor and Fluorescent Adolescent. Other great songs they performed were Do Me a Favour, Brainstorm and Teddy Picker, besides their new song The Nettles. The young Alex Turner is impressive with his talent and his ability to produce hits, and The Arctic Monkeys’ show helps further them in their career.
The next and last one, was The Killers. With a decorated stage – with flowers, lights, and a big “Sam’s Town” written – Brandon Flowers got on the stage playing songs from their two albuns and a cover of Shadowplay by Joy Division. They didn’t play Where The White Boys Dance (one of my favorites) but they played Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine with a quite loud bass, awesome. It was a hit of the show,and I must confess that I hoped for more… I think that I’m getting old or too indie for big Festivals like that one.