Rodrigo Amarante / Scala / London
Tonight, we had our first trip to London’s Scala venue, just round the corner from Kings Cross station and what a great venue this is. A majestic exterior you climb the stairs to find the main hall which has a more unusual and beautiful design, with a raised walkway on the right side, and raised platforms lifting some of the audience above the floor like a mini-amphitheatre. With galleries up high its quite unique and wonderful.
A large crowd gathered with many coming early for the support, provided by London based singer / songwriter Naima Bock. I saw Naima with her full band about a year ago in Nottingham supporting Porridge Radio on their tour, and that was fantastic. Tonight, to match the headliner, was a stripped down set with acoustic guitar, violin and keys.
Naima’s set began and compared to the full band set the opening bars were so different, the minimalist instrumentation highlighting her beautiful vocals so effectively. With beautiful deep assured tones and a wide range it contrasts her calm demeanour. Against the clear notes of her acoustic guitar, the vocals carry you through the set with delicate melodies and a sound unique to Naima rooted in classic female folk singers, but all of her own.
Naima’s recorded material matches the full band set more closely, with rich tones, electric guitars and backing vocals, but tonight’s solo performance was something different and delightful. Stripped down, intimate and at times almost hauntingly beautiful.
A wonderful introduction to the evening’s entertainment.
Set LIst
Toll
Thirty Degrees
Every Morning
Lines
Campervan
Giant Palm
The crowd had grown even larger by now, ready for the entrance of Rodrigo Amarante. I have to be honest, I had not heard of Rodrigo before. I was told he the artist behind Tuyo, the theme song to Netflix series “Narcos”. I read up some and found Rodrigo was a Brazilian born singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist now residing in LA. With a background in Brazilian Samba and Folk I was really looking forward to this experience.
It got me thinking too, with lots of his material sung in his native Portuguese, can you truly understand a piece of music in another language, if you don’t or can’t understand the lyrics ? It gt me thinking about other bands I like such as Rammstein and Eisbrecher who sing mainly in their native German. Did I just ‘like’ it or was it something deeper ?
Rodrigo stepped out onto the stage to great acclaim from the crowd. Unfortunately there were initial technical issues with no power to the pedals on stage, but Rodrigo took command and simply engaged in light conversation and story telling with the crowd while the technicians fervently tried to fix the issues. With a big smile on his face and totally un-phased, Rodrigo suggested simply bypassing the pedals and plugging his hand painted acoustic guitar straight into the monitor, and bingo ! we had sound !!!!
Immediately the atmosphere for the night was set…. With beautiful soft guitar soundscapes and delicate vocals drifting over the top. The audience (many at the front speaking Spanish/ Portuguese) know his work well and there is a wonderful atmosphere in the venue. Unable to understand the lyrics, I find between taking photos I’m sat back in the pit letting the tracks wash over me and I feel genuinely relaxed, and almost in another place, somewhere quiet & exotic.
I recognised the track Tara from my online listing which hints at the bossa nova greats of the past. You could close your eyes and imagine you’re on a dancefloor in Brazil with your partner head over heels in love and a feeling that nothing else in this world matters right now. And of course, there is a performance of Tuyo, the theme from TV’s “Narcos” which has a far darker, almost haunting feel to it.
Mare is upbeat and has a playful feel to it as it opens with whistling on top of a fingerpicked acoustic guitar that sounds straight out of Django Unchained, it builds into a powerful almost anthem like track that despite having no idea what the words are, I feel like I could just sing along with it.
I have to say, I simply LOVED tonight’s experience. Naima Bock was wonderful in support, soft, delicate and delightful, setting the stage perfectly for Rodrigo, who delivered a beautiful set of relaxing acoustic guitar and vocals.
Did it matter I can’t understand a word of Portuguese ? I reflected on this on the tube back afterwards and decided that it absolutely didn’t matter. Maybe you don’t need to understand the complete story, the meaning behind the words, what the artist is trying to deliver. Sure if you know the language you can get it, just as it is intended, but even so, I came away having experienced something quite deep, and beautiful.
And that’s the point I guess… The important thing is it’s about us, the listeners, what we experience and what we project onto the music, our own emotions and meanings. Maybe, just maybe, by not understanding the lyrics, I’m actually able to enjoy the emotions of it more, and let the music itself speak to me and my feelings ? And at the end of the day, to me…. That feels good.
No matter what language you speak, no matter how you understand this music, Rodrigo Amarante is a master at what he does and creates beautiful music that anyone can enjoy. Definitely worth investing an hour or so of your time, it’s a night you won’t forget in a hurry.
Set List
Evaporar
Tara
Tango
Nada em Vão
Tão Sozinho
I Can’t Wait
O Cometa
Tuyo
Tardei
Mare
The Ribbon
Irene
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Pode Ser
O Vento
