I Once Attended Portugal’s Best Musical Sunset

And I’ll do it again in 2024

Back when I was publishing my webzine, I would get press credentials to all the main musical events taking place in Portugal.

I lost count of the concerts I attended as a music journalist. There’s nothing quite like being there on the other side of the fence, so close to the stage you can feel the oomph of the PA pounding at your heart.

However, from a long list, there’s a music festival that, to this day, holds a special place in my heart.

Every year, in August, I would make my way to Cabedelo Beach in Vila Nova de Gaia.

This story arises from my memories of one of those special days.

On a sunny Wednesday, in 2012, the stage was set in a unique setting on the banks of the Douro with the Atlantic Ocean on the horizon.

The first day of the Marés Vivas festival promised great rock outbursts, and, as we approached the venue, the electric crispness of André Indiana and his Blues Band echoed, playing the acid notes of “Love Me Two Times” by The Doors.

The Lazy Faithful had the honor of kicking off the Moche stage with the irreverence of their “old school” rock.

Then, The Sounds, a Swedish band fronted by the irreverent and sensual diva Maja Ivarsson, delivered their husky indie rock as the first act on the main stage.

Up next, Wolfmother took the stage with rock infused with psychedelic and heavy influences reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

But most of us were drawn to the event by Franz Ferdinand, led by the charismatic Alex Kapranos, who vowed to end the night in great style.

Main Stage: The Sounds

I checked my watch, and it showed 10 PM when The Sounds opened the main stage.

Faithful to her rock identity, Maja Ivarsson comes to the forefront wearing vertiginous stilettos to distill “The No No Song.”

However, the audience’s empathy seems welded to the stage’s railings. During “Queen of Apologies,” Maja signals to the technicians, visibly dissatisfied with the problems affecting the band’s performance.

The classic “Hit Me” arrives at the right time, raising some dust and drawing the first ovation from the public, which nevertheless praises the robust performance of the vocalist.

Maja replies, “Thank you.”

Visiting the various albums of the band, “Painted by Numbers,” “Something to die for,” and “No One Sleeps When I’m Awake” follow quickly.

Then, Maja tries to wake up the crowd by shouting:

“I wanna see you jump! C’mon Portugal!”

And just before the next song:

“I wanna see action; something raw from Portugal.”

I note the pulsating bass line that opens “Song with a Mission.” There’s still the nostalgia of a revisited and mature “Rock n’Roll.”

Maja praises all the ladies:

“Thank you, senõritas.”

Then, after another request:

“I wanna see you clapping, I wanna see you move.”

The singer changes the tone and encourages the audience.

“I wanna see some fricking action.”

At that moment, as if inspired by the more pop and electronic vibe, the public responds, the bodies shake, and the frenzy of moshing clashes for the first time in front of the stage.

The ballad “Wish You Were Here” gives Maja time to catch her breath.

With a more appealing ending, after “Dorchester Hotel,” The Sounds say goodbye with “Living in America” (one of the best moments of the concert), “Ego” and the final apotheosis of “Hope you’re happy now.”

In this epilogue and as an example of the band’s energy, I recall the keyboardist joining the drummer, furiously hammering down on the cymbals.

In short, a good performance by the Swedish band that never gave up and managed, despite everything, to occasionally wake the audience from that initial lethargy.

Main Stage: Wolfmother

Occupying the central position in the evening’s line-up, and with the firm intention of seizing the audience even before the headliners came on stage

The kings of “Oz Rock” gritted their teeth in the face of the technical problems that conditioned their performance and paraded a barrage of heavy sound, mixed with the electronic rhythms of the keyboards. It was a little after 11:30 pm when the Australian band took the stage with the strength that would grant them the glory of dominating the night and the honor of crowning their foreheads with the laurel wreath reserved for the most distinguished artists.

As if foretelling this martial glory, lead singer Andrew Stockdale enters the stage wearing a military-inspired jacket, and “White Feather” immediately startles the fans who were shaking and elbowing against the railings.

After “California Queen,” the highlight was the audience clapping during “New Moon Rising.” Completing this unique moment, the band presents the unmissable “Woman,” showing reminiscences of Led Zeppelin.

Afterward, another moment to remember, when, after long minutes of psychedelic (or psychotropic) rambling during “White Unicorn,” Wolfmother emerge from stratospheric ramblings to remind us that Franz Ferdinand is next and pay tribute to Pink Floyd with a fleeting foray into “Another Brick in the Wall (Pt 2).” On the way to the end, we are treated to a “Cosmic Egg” wrapped in atmospheric sounds and introduced by keyboards that remind us of baroque clavichords, which adds tremendous rhythmic diversity in terms of percussion.

This is their natural habitat, and we are all prey to a feral musicality that is inscribed in a tenuous limbo between heavy revivalism and the most contemporary electronic" sounds.

"Colossal” and “Joker & the Thief” are the bait and the hook that, as the show progresses, integrate us even more deeply into the food chain of this glorious “mother wolf.”

Main Stage: Franz Ferdinand

The moon shines high, and it’s almost 2 AM, the Glasgow band goes up the main stage of Marés Vivas to install the rhythmic fervor of its musicality in the bodies of the nearly twenty thousand irreducible festival-goers that didn’t leave their feet and were waiting for them in a state of latent anxiety.

Alex Kapranos greets the fans in delirium with “Hello Porto,” but we are on the other side of the Douro in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Then he entices the audience with the thrilling rhythm of the hit song “Do You Want to? This set the tone for an end of the night full of danceable rhythms that would lead the frenzy of bodies to expand throughout the audience.

Then they attack “No You Girls,” visiting the album “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand,” later revisited through the hit “Ulysses,” a theme that led to one of the best images of the day with the crowd waving their arms in the air.

The concert’s evolution denounced the reinvigorated energy of the band, which had already promised a new original album soon.

Proving this fresh creative breath, Alex Kapranos didn’t hesitate to play one of the “wild cards” he had hidden up his sleeve right from the start. When he announces a new song and presents “Right Thoughts,” the audience rejoices.

After the classic “Walk Way,” the fans are again delighted with “Scarlet&Blue” (an extremely danceable song, full of synth sounds).

Finally, the “wild cards” triptych is completed with “The Universe Expanded,” which comes right after the delicate “Jacqueline” and “The Dark of the Matinée.”

However, in the absence of a new album, the backbone of the band’s concerts is still dedicated to the debut album “Franz Ferdinand,” since throughout this passage through Marés Vivas, there was still time to revisit “Take Me Out,” “This Fire,” and “Michael.”

Without climbing to the highest peaks of excellence, Franz Ferdinand had the merit of offering the fans a careful selection of the band’s greatest hits, thus managing to captivate the audience and provide us with a rich musical feast.

I can’t wait to go back to Cabedelo Beach in 2024. The festival is back to Vila Nova de Gaia with an exciting lineup featuring Ben Harper, Anitta, Take That, James Arthur, and Louis Tomlinson.

If you find yourself near Porto this July, please let me know. I’ll do my best to get you there on time to witness the most stunning backdrop for a music festival you’ve ever seen.