After all the suspense, Steel Pulse delivers a lukewarm show in São Paulo! Check Surforeggae!

On the last day of March 7, 2008, the British band Steel Pulse returned to São Paulo, this time at Citibank Hall, renowned house of shows Paulista. There were rumors that the presentation would not happen, since the Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba shows were cancelled due to the low ticket sales. This was a reflection of the failure obtained with the bombastic cancellations in 2007, such as Bunny Wailer and Apple Gabriel tours. In 2005, the last opportunity when Steel Pulse was on tupiniquin lands, the group performed a memorable performance at the Credicard Hall (São Paulo). Due to the high level of past presentation, comparisons would be inevitable. Even with the prices of tickets being exorbitant (90 real runway), the show São Paulo showed the importance of a well made disclosure, a fact not occurring in Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba, which together did not add 200 advance tickets. Moments before the show, the concentration of people outside Citibank Hall already showed that Steel Pulse would have a heavy audience.

THE SHOW

Without much delay, peculiar to the “Halls” throughout the country, Steel Pulse began its concert with the classic “Rally Round”. This time, the show was not full of hits as in 2005, since the band adopted the strategy of releasing the latest releases, especially those of the album “African Holocaust” at the expense of consecrated tracks such as “Ku Klux Klan and “Back to my Roots”. For this reason, during much of the show the public was adrift, evidencing the lack of stamps capable of “patriating” albums from large groups. The highlight of the show was undoubtedly the killer sequence of “Roller Skates”, “Bodyguard”, “Africans Unite”, “Handsworth Revolution” and “Soldiers”, tracks that became almost indispensable in the band’s performances around the world. David Hinds (vocal) and Selwyn Brown (keyboard and voice) sought to interact with the audience all the time always showing sympathy. The same can be said of guitarist Donovan Mckitty. However, clearly, fans missed the incomparable guitar solos present in the original recordings, and for this reason, it seemed that the group was using an improvised musician. This was reinforced by pages and more pages glued to the floor containing notes of the songs to be performed. Meanwhile, on the bass, Amlak Tafari detonated as usual, performing his unusual performance, treating his instrument as a pair in a dance that lasted the entire performance. With the songs being played uninterruptedly and the obvious magic of the band, Steel Pulse managed to minimize the limitations of this presentation, making songs such as “Stepping Out” and “Chant a Psalm” themes of post-show conversations. Taking the reverse route of “Reggae/Rock and Rock/Reggae”, like the British also The Clash, Steel Pulse returned to the bis recalling “Little Wing” of the legendary Jimi Hendrix. The sequel composed of “Earth Crisis”, “Sound System”, “Global Warning” and “Blazing Fire”, marked the end of the performance that had everything to be within normal if not for primate attitudes of an individual of production.

THE DREAMABLE DEFENSE

Regrettably, giving a show of lack of education and self-centeredness, Steel Pulse's entrepreneur was the protagonist of disrespectful and rude scenes when he threw out fans and everyone who tried to get close to their idols, who were always extremely attentive. It would be possible to write a complete story about the ridiculous episode, however, we prefer to portray that Steel Pulse, one of Reggae's most important bands of all time, is in the hands of a person who has certainly never heard the message that reggae tries to pass. How sad...

IMAGES OF THE EVENT

Click here and check out the photos of this event.

MULTIMIDIA

Click here to see Steel Pulse live with "Roller Skates".