Hei, Afro! Cidade Negra shakes HSBC Brasil on the return of their new tour! See how it went!

Bombastic! There is no other adjective that better defines the performance of this hit machine gun, the Cidade Negra. Lazão, Bino Farias and Toni Garrido presented the "sustainable tour" in São Paulo, which actually started in the members' hometown, Rio de Janeiro. The event house HSBC Hall, formerly Tom Brasil, proved to be "well-behaved" in its layout full of tables and chairs. Everyone seated, at least initially. On their tables are biocups with the NGO brand Salve o Planeta Azul (www.salveoplanetaazul.com.br), in addition to other sustainable concepts that ranged from the show's lighting to the musicians' clothing.

THE SHOW

Without delay, the Cidade Negra arrives with everything with the new song "Hei, Afro!", where the stage is a beautiful light show with a mega colorful screen in the colors of reggae. Truly a structure worthy of the importance of the rhythm and the band that has already contributed a lot on the national and international scene. Next, the song “Diamantes” and a special highlight for “Ninguém Pode Duvidar de Jah” (see video below), a beautiful composition present on the new album “Hei, Afro!”, which in fact deserves to be analyzed carefully. Mixed on the Jamaica, the album features a modern and absurdly defined sound, harmonized between vocals, instruments and effects. A true toast to national reggae.

TIME TO GET UP

Between tables and chairs, the audience got excited and got up to dance. For those who still had doubts about whether to do the same or not, the band sends the incredible sequence of the hits “Girassol” and “Pensamento”. Then the song “Salve o Planeta Azul” – with a melodica melody (an instrument immortalized by Augustus Pablo) – and “Onde você Mora?”, a song that made everyone sing in one voice surrounded by a dub version with an incredible atmosphere. Promoting the release of “Hei, Afro!”, the band performs the grooved “Só pra Detonar” and “Sozinho Demais” in sequence. Going into a total party atmosphere, Cidade Negra sends out “Sábado à Noite” and “Querem meu Sangue”, the Brazilian version of Nando Reis for the success of Jimmy Cliff, “The Harder They Come”. Soon after, Toni Garrido sends a message to “good experts” about the current political-religious discussions in Brazil, officially a Secular State, but which hardly applies this secularism. To “touch this wound”, the band sends the good-natured “Ignorious Man”.

HSBC BECOMES A PARTY

The Toni Garrido didn't even have to ask. “A Sombra da Maldade” was played so that the last mortals could leave their seats and join in the wonderful reggae vibe that was taking over the house. Of course, Cidade Negra was not going to drop the ball, and they shook the structures of HSBC with “Eu Fui, Voltei”, which opened a DUB base for a section of “Liberdade pra Dentro da Cabeça” – Natiruts’s success – “Podes Crer”, and one of the biggest hits of their career, “Firmamento”, which the band he took advantage of the melody to fit the high “Police and Thieves” by Junior Murvin. Already with that “closing” atmosphere, Toni calls the classic “Doutor”, where they engage a sequence of “Stir it Up” by Bob Marley, a version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and finally another release of “Hei, Afro!”, “Mole de Amor”, thus closing the main set.

BIS, OF COURSE!

It was Bino Farias taking the bass off his shoulders so that the desperate BIS requests began to echo, and Cidade Negra didn't hold back on the emotion. Toni Garrido said that much of what Cidade Negra feels with all this affection from the public and the satisfaction of making music for all these years was in this song: “A Estrada”. “You don’t know how far I walked… to get here!” - it was chilling. Next, Toni talks about the Rio de Janeiro affectionately as a younger brother of São Paulo, and complements it with a phrase that introduced the hit “Paiol de Pólvora”: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro beat the same aching heart...” Quite provocative and militant, Toni infects the crowd with her message and ends with the touch: The Jardim Angela and the Jardim Paulista are the same garden... you have to understand!” - an allusion to two São Paulo neighborhoods with extremely different social realities. To close the beautiful night of reggae, Toni Garrido takes requests from the audience and takes excerpts from “Johnny B Goode”, “Tempo Perdido” by Legião Urbana and “Is This Love” by Bob Marley. Keep an eye on the band's schedule and don't miss the chance to enjoy this real SHOW. Long live the Cidade Negra! Bless! Photos by: Taiz Dering (taizdering.carbonmade.com)