Nação Zumbi and O Rappa shake the first night at Abril Pro Rock
Brazilian acts win over the crowd in Recife and leave Asian Dub Foundation behind – the brits didn’t get onstage till 3 in the morning
Débora Nascimento
21/04/2001
RECIFE – Fulfilling the expectation, the ninth edition of the Abril Pro Rock festival started on Friday 21st at 9:30 p.m. at the Centro de Convenções de Pernambuco, on the border of the towns of Recife and Olinda. With a competent embolada (an old form of freestyle rhyming), the duo Pinto & Rouxinol kicked off the event that carries the word "rock" in its name. Eager to have fun, the crowd gathered in front of the second stage to check out the sense of humor displayed by the duo from Gravatá, in the interior of Pernambuco State. Performing together for 18 years, the two have written some of the greatest embolada classics in the region, such as Ladrão Besta e o Sabido, turned popular by the duo Caju & Castanha (who appear on the first track of Lenine’s CD, O Dia em Que Faremos Contato 
)
The next act at the second stage was local band D-Urb, who had also played the Rec Beat festival, during carnival, which this year billed Mudhoney on the opening night. D-Urb - DJ Walter (samples and keyboards), Hamilton (guitars), Romildo (bass), China (vocals) and Chegado MC (vocals) – presented a mix of electronic textures with hardcore punk.
Although they did do their best, the band only served as an appetizer for Nação Zumbi’s set, as they had promised to play the concert of their lives. The band that accompanied late Chico Science triggered the punch in their music through the alfaias (maracatu drums), Lúcio Maia’s guitar and Jorge Du Peixe’s vocals (who seems to be more comfortable with being the bandleader). As soon as they stepped on APR stage, Nação Zumbi was warmly welcomed by a crowd in the main comprised of youngsters aged 13 to 17, most of whom never had the opportunity to see a performance by Dr. Charles Zambohead (a.k.a. Chico Science) himself.
A party with ballet and ciranda
On the main stage, the wall of drums conquered the 7 thousand-people crowd. The set list featured highlights like Quando a Maré Encher (a hit by local band Eddie), the first single out of their latest release, Radio S.Amb.A (Ybrasil Music) and the classics Banditismo por uma Questão de Classe, Da Lama ao Caos and Manguetown, all of which written Chico. Not to mention the low-income ballet girl-group Majê Molê and the guest appearance of the ciranda diva, Lia de Itamaracá.
When Nação finished their set, the band Bom Sucesso Samba Club took the second stage. Led by Roger Man, former bassist with Eddie, the set was the key to more experimental sounds on a night that was yet to witness Rappa’s straigth forward music. The seven members, four of whom are percussionists, blended genres like trip hop and drum’n’bass, but did quite get to make the audience dance much.
At last, at 12:40 a.m., Rappa took the main stage boasting enough confidence to attract the largest amount of people. Stamina-filled Falcão offered his powerful voice and dreadlocks to an audience that was willing to sing-along to the band’s hits (many of which from the CD Rappa Mundi ), but even the more obscure songs from their latest release, Lado B Lado A , were attentively accompanied by the viewers. It really was the peak of the night, as opposed to the most expected act, British band Asian Dub Foundation (who lost part of the crowd due to the clock: it was 3 in the morning), billed second to last. After them, DJ Amon Tobin accomplished the hard task of keeping the last cells that survived this Friday awaken.
)The next act at the second stage was local band D-Urb, who had also played the Rec Beat festival, during carnival, which this year billed Mudhoney on the opening night. D-Urb - DJ Walter (samples and keyboards), Hamilton (guitars), Romildo (bass), China (vocals) and Chegado MC (vocals) – presented a mix of electronic textures with hardcore punk.
Although they did do their best, the band only served as an appetizer for Nação Zumbi’s set, as they had promised to play the concert of their lives. The band that accompanied late Chico Science triggered the punch in their music through the alfaias (maracatu drums), Lúcio Maia’s guitar and Jorge Du Peixe’s vocals (who seems to be more comfortable with being the bandleader). As soon as they stepped on APR stage, Nação Zumbi was warmly welcomed by a crowd in the main comprised of youngsters aged 13 to 17, most of whom never had the opportunity to see a performance by Dr. Charles Zambohead (a.k.a. Chico Science) himself.
A party with ballet and ciranda
On the main stage, the wall of drums conquered the 7 thousand-people crowd. The set list featured highlights like Quando a Maré Encher (a hit by local band Eddie), the first single out of their latest release, Radio S.Amb.A
(Ybrasil Music) and the classics Banditismo por uma Questão de Classe, Da Lama ao Caos and Manguetown, all of which written Chico. Not to mention the low-income ballet girl-group Majê Molê and the guest appearance of the ciranda diva, Lia de Itamaracá.When Nação finished their set, the band Bom Sucesso Samba Club took the second stage. Led by Roger Man, former bassist with Eddie, the set was the key to more experimental sounds on a night that was yet to witness Rappa’s straigth forward music. The seven members, four of whom are percussionists, blended genres like trip hop and drum’n’bass, but did quite get to make the audience dance much.
At last, at 12:40 a.m., Rappa took the main stage boasting enough confidence to attract the largest amount of people. Stamina-filled Falcão offered his powerful voice and dreadlocks to an audience that was willing to sing-along to the band’s hits (many of which from the CD Rappa Mundi
), but even the more obscure songs from their latest release, Lado B Lado A , were attentively accompanied by the viewers. It really was the peak of the night, as opposed to the most expected act, British band Asian Dub Foundation (who lost part of the crowd due to the clock: it was 3 in the morning), billed second to last. After them, DJ Amon Tobin accomplished the hard task of keeping the last cells that survived this Friday awaken.