MUSIC/ECONOMY-BRAZIL: Tourist Industry, Biggest Fan of Rock in Rio

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 22 2001 (IPS) - The third edition of Rock in Rio drew to a close with few innovations on the music front and 1.23 million spectators, 18 percent less than projected. Nevertheless, the mega-bash brought booming business to the tourism industry of Brazil’s second largest city.

The various sectors of the economy involved in one way or another pocketed more than 500 million reals (255 million dollars) during the Jan 12-21 festival, which included seven days of concerts and a three-day intermission.

The nearly 300,000 tourists who visited the city to take in 120 local and foreign bands spent 324 million reals (166 million dollars), according to the Association of Travel Agents.

Hotels were filled to capacity, at least in the neighbourhoods closest to “Rock City”, a 250,000 square-metre complex built for Rock in Rio and future events, thus expanding Rio de Janeiro’s already broad entertainment infrastructure.

The installations cost around 30 million dollars to build, and an even higher sum was paid by sponsors like America On Line, Coca- cola and Polaroid.

The fourth Rock in Rio is scheduled for 2003, announced Roberto Medina, the promoter of the event, which is to be held every two years from now on. The first two gatherings were organised in 1985 and 1991.

The complications that organisers ran into in the first two editions – especially the second – which almost buried the initiative seem to have been overcome with the arrangements adopted this year, which will be repeated to facilitate the planning of coming festivals.

The incidents caused by fans who tried to crash the party on Sunday and the violent police crackdown to keep them out were written off as normal for a gathering of young rock fans of such scale.

Apart from that, the event went off smoothly, largely thanks to the 2,500 buses driving spectators in from all around the city, which prevented traffic from jamming up along the roads leading to Rock City. Driving to the concerts was not an option, as cars could only park several kilometres away from the complex.

The numbers involved in Rock in Rio were simply staggering. The festival provided 161 hours of music, with 1,186 themes performed on four stages: the World stage, reserved for the most famous bands and an audience of 250,000, and three tents, with a capacity for 2,400 spectators. Around 20,000 people were involved in organising the concerts.

In addition, more than one billion spectators worldwide enjoyed the highlights of the festival over television.

The concert-goers consumed millions of litres of beer, soft drinks and water, and 7,700 people received medical assistance, mainly due to excessive consumption of alcohol.

But festivals of these dimensions tend to offer few revelations, with artists sticking to their tried and true tunes that allow the crowd to sing along. Presenting new works to such a varied, enormous gathering of fans seems to present too big a risk.

Illustrating that was the lukewarm reception of U.S. alternative rocker Beck, who is little known in Brazil despite his professed admiration for Brazilian music.

On the other hand, veterans on the rock scene like Neil Young and James Taylor or the bands Guns N’Roses and Iron Maiden received the passionate welcome they expected, as did teen idol Britney Spears.

The exception with respect to novelties was the Roots tent, where performers from all over the world presented music representing specific cultures, little known in Brazil. Ray Lema from the Congo, Ireland’s Dervish, Dedé Saint-Prix from Martinique and Amadou and Marian from Mali were some of the most popular performers on that stage.

Most of the artists who showed up in the Roots tent face difficulties in getting their music out and poverty in their home countries. In Mali there is no way to record albums, said Amadou, while Saint-Prix lamented that in Martinique, the public rejects music of African origin.

But the presence of the 18 foreign groups in the Roots tent was drowned out by the noisy expressions of mass adoration by the fans of the rock, pop, funk and other singers, songwriters and bands who sell millions of CDs worldwide.

Nor did much come of Rock in Rio’s stated aim of making the world a “better place”.

Debates on solidarity, the future of youth and the environment, which were held in another enormous tent, failed to excite the spectators, most of whom were clearly in Rock City for the party.

Nevertheless, five percent of the revenues obtained in the seven days of the festival as well as donations from private firms will go towards scholarships to allow low-income youngsters to complete their basic schooling and receive vocational training, especially in computer skills.

In addition, 2,500 young people signed up for volunteer work, and more than 50,000 signed petitions calling for peace, conservation of the environment and a better world.

The intention to link Rock in Rio with philanthropy was designed to win the approval of society, but it ended up looking not only unnecessary but somewhat contradictory when it came to such a big-bucks event.

Medina said he expected Rock in Rio’s net earnings to total 3.5 million reals (1.8 million dollars). Meanwhile, few of the poor Brazilians making up most of this country’s population of 168 million could even dream of affording the 35 real (18 dollar) entry fee for each day of concerts – equivalent to one-quarter of Brazil’s minimum monthly wage.