Virada Ilegal, in its third edition, 'punishes' Sister Simpliciana with the powerful Jurassic Soundsystem!

Marcelo Sono woke up before noon last Saturday. He changed out of his crumpled clothes, drove a white Kombi the six kilometers separating Vila Mariana from Praça da Sé in downtown São Paulo, and got out there with four friends. Some homeless residents noticed the activity and offered help when the young men began unloading the three tons of sound equipment overflowing from inside the vehicle onto the sidewalk on Rua Irmã Simpliciana. It was São Paulo's Virada Cultural day. That's why the metropolitan civil guards and traffic officers passing by overlooked the commotion set up in front of Dona Vânia's bar. Sono, Greg Fernandes, Carlos Pappa Neggo, Luis and Jurássico, all under 25, pay up to R$ 2,000 for the vinyl record they put on the old turntable connected to the powerful acoustic apparatus – real walls formed by speaker boxes, inspired by the old Jamaican sound systems. Over the melody coming from the boxes, they sing a repertoire of classic reggae. Since 2008, "Jurassic Soundsystem" has not been on the Virada Cultural program. Not officially. After insistent requests, the group gave up waiting for a response from city hall and solved the problem on their own. They founded Virada Ilegal, which this year reached its third edition. The event, promoted online, happens thanks to a free stretch of sidewalk and an electrical outlet. Dona Vânia trades the electricity from her small establishment for the crowd's loyalty. In a single day she sells more beer than during the entire rest of the year. The party repeats every month at that location. In May, with Virada Cultural, the group's exposure grows notably. Riding the wave of the dawn organized by city hall, few people notice that this is a Virada that is not on paper.