MUSIC-BRAZIL: Rio Turns into Capital of Aging Rock ‘n’ Roll

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 11 2001 (IPS) - The third Rock in Rio festival, which is expected to attract more than 1.5 million people over seven days of concerts, will turn this Brazilian city into the international capital of young people’s music beginning Friday, but its overriding tone seems to be nostalgia for older rock.

The festival, which has scheduled 120 musical groups from around the world under the slogan “for a better world,” has already seen its first fans arrive from throughout Brazil and from neighbouring countries, especially Argentina. And long lines are forming at the ticket-selling sites.

Musicians in their 50s, like Britain’s Sting, US-singer James Taylor and Brazilians Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento, will inaugurate the musical marathon in “Rock City,” the concert venue built in a thinly populated area west of Rio.

Also on opening night, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra will perform “The Dream of the Gazelle” by Congolese composer Ray Lema, followed by John Lennon’s song “Imagine,” with Gil and Nascimento joining in.

As such, there is almost no rock ‘n’ roll the first night of the festival, or not much more than rock memories. On subsequent days of Rock in Rio (with a break Monday through Wednesday), most performers are older bands or singers, some of which even played at the first version of Rock in Rio, 16 years ago.

The exception is next Thursday night (Jan18), a night of adolescents led by the new star of pop music, 19-year-old US singer Britney Spears, who has sold more than 20 million albums. Also playing that night are young bands like ‘NSync, Five and the Brazilian duo Sandy & Junior.

It should come as no surprise that Thursday’s concerts are the only ones that have already sold out of tickets.

The night’s line-up is the only breath of youthful air among the 42 national and international bands that will be performing throughout the festival on the main stage, which looks out over 88,000 square metres of grass intended to hold 250,000 spectators, the maximum number of tickets that can be sold for each day of the event.

On the other days, the principal concerts will show off the idols of past decades, even back to the 1960s, who will perform among some more recent groups, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from the United States, and Oasis, from Great Britain, and one of the latest arrivals to the music scene, the US band Queens of the Stone Age.

Canadian rocker Neil Young, US groups Guns N’Roses and R.E.M, and Britain’s Iron Maiden are some of the public’s old favourites that will also take the spotlight.

Among the Brazilian musicians to perform are the veterans outside the rock genre, including Gil, Nascimento, Moraes Moreira and Elba Ramalho, older bands like Barao Vermelho, Sepultura and Kid Abelha, and not-so-young singers Daniela Mercury and Fernanda Abreu.

But Rock in Rio III attempts to be much more than a show concerts for international consumption by the youth of today and yesterday.

In enormous tents with the capacity to hold a few thousand people, the fans and the curious alike will have the chance to hear regional, experimental and less commercial music throughout the afternoons and evenings of the seven days of the festival.

The Roots Tent will highlight the music of 23 groups from 18 countries, in many cases the traditional music of certain ethnic groups. Musicians from Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Congo and Mali will represent Africa, and groups from Cuba and Martinique will make up the Caribbean presence.

Concertgoers will have the opportunity to hear music from Algeria, Morocco, Iran and Madagascar, as well as the regional sounds of Europe through groups from Finland, from Catalonia and Andalusia in Spain and from Brittany in France.

The Brazil Tent will show off a mix of famous singers, experimental groups, and local musicians from several Brazilian cities, giving listeners a taste of the trends occurring outside the country’s musical mainstream.

A third large tent is to be dedicated to electronic music, a favourite among youth at dance clubs. The stars there will be the DJs (disc jockeys) who will display their talents mixing various rhythms of hip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass and techno.

Rock in Rio also goes beyond musical spectacles, organising events to promote world peace and solidarity.

Organisers have launched a campaign to gather contributions to be directed toward education and professional training for impoverished children and adolescents.

A fourth tent is planned for holding debates and demonstrations about the future of the world’s youth, environment, globalisation, spirituality and quality of life, as well as the social roles of music, the arts and sports.

Critics of the event, however, say it will be difficult to attract people to the debates while such high-profile concerts are going on.

“Rock City,” which comprises the entire concert grounds, covers 250,000 square metres, which also hold shopping areas, a hospital and three first-aid stations and a media centre for 700 journalists.

Security inside the concert area has been entrusted to 750 agents, while there will be 3,000 police outside the grounds. A team of 250 fire-fighters will also be on hand in case of emergency.

To handle the arrival of the music fans, a nearby area has been set aside for 28,700 vehicles to park, and 26 bus lines will transport fans from Rio to the concert site.

“Rock City” is located on the same land as the first Rock in Rio, held in 1985, which lacked the installations and amenities that are available this year.

The music festival was held again in 1991, but at the Maracaná football stadium, a venue that proved to be a poor choice, and organisers, fans and advertisers thought it meant the end of Rock in Rio.

But entrepreneur Roberto Medina took up the challenge, breathing life into the dream of making Rio de Janeiro the world’s capital of music, in addition to the capital of Carnival.

It is the “social project,” the message of creating a better world and gathering resources for marginalized children, that prompted this third edition of the rock music event, Medina affirms.