Report: REVERENCE FESTIVAL day2# @ Valada

Saturday promised 30 bands, 9 dj’s and, of course, the late hours of the first night meant that it would have consequences on the second day. But, with exactly one hour delay, we all could still be well organized.

Starting with one of the biggest festival revelations for us: nationals ASIMOV. One drum, one distorted guitar and lots of aggressive shouts gathered the attentions of all the festival-goers for 40 minutes, at stage Rio. Perfect coordination, expressive intensity and a rock on attitude made the marks of this show, where, towards its end, some acid oriented riffs promised that, with more time Asimov’s journey can became even more dangerous. Next time don’t forget to put your seat belts on.

We needed a beer. Or two. That’s why we returned only to see the melancholic drone trip of BARDO POND. Even with the daylight still on and without any stage artifacts, their melodies fest more dragged than expected, creating a mysterious ambience around the stage, where the flute helped to increase those mystic feelings. But BRUTO AND THE CANNIBALS had already started their show, so, a walk into Sabotage stage was necessary. Ladies and gentleman, this is rockabilly! An institutional form of it. Led by the immortal Jorge Bruto, the band presented some accelerated songs, trying to keep up the pace of its frontman, whose age marks don’t seem to affect his stage stamina.  And so, an entertained afternoon set the mood for the night main stage performances, starting exactly at 20:00, thus recovering the previous one hour delay. Well done.

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS left one of the most carved marks of Reverence Valada. For the first time in Portugal, they pushed the sound level to a point where you could not hear anything else, profiting from a guitar distortion much more evidenced than on their studio works. Since the beginning with “Deadbeat”, till the closure with “Ocean”, their insane intensity led them through an electric concert, with the two guitar players throwing and breaking their instruments, whilst pulling their amps to the edge of the stage, ruining everybody’s ears. Joy Division is present in every song but adapted to a modern way of being. After this show a comeback is demanded. Don’t you miss it!

PSYCHIC TV had not an easy task after such an overwhelming show, and the stage light effects (some of the best we’ve seen in recent years) were one of the reasons that allowed the band to grab the audience after a couple of songs. The other motive was the charismatic figure of Genesis P-Orridge, that balanced the gig with her spoken words lyrics. But right after them, the main headliners of the festival, Americans HAWKWIND. These guys are a real institution in the psych heavy rock field and the adhesion to their show was naturally massive. With an immense set of songs from where to chose, Hawkwind played some important stamps of their long career, as “Assault” or “Battery”. Even though we felt that it could get heavier at any moment…it didn’t. Nevertheless, their performance seemed to have pleased everyone, once the demanded encores made the concert last for almost two hours. And so, here comes the delay.

MÃO MORTA has stayed faithful to itself for 30 years and at Valada it was no exception. Presenting some songs from their new album, like the corrosive “Hipótese do Suicídio” or the final “Pelo Meu Relógio São Horas de Matar”, they didn’t forget some consensual songs as “Vamos Fugir”, “Berlim” or “Barcelona”. From what we’ve seen, the fact that Adolfo Luxúria Canibal quitted alcohol doesn’t mean that his stage insanity got slower. Even if their repertoire offered the chance of a more energetic gig, Mão Morta grabbed the audience since the first moment and with “Anarquista Duval” they proved how visionary they’ve always been, even 25 years ago.

When THE BLACK ANGELS started the last mainstage show, we felt that the audience needed an agitated concert, and that’s maybe the reason why so much festival-goers deserted during that show. Although the stoner pop rock from The Black Angels delivered some good moments, the absence of vitality diversions eventually made us leave too. But just from the Reverence stage area, once some other proposals were still ahead of us.

Starting with CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, for whom the stage Rio seemed to small, given the intensity these guys putted on stage. Our first comparison was with some Saturnus sonority, which soon was erased by some acid white rock, before an approach to Nu Metal and even traditional folk was taken. “What a mess” you think. That’s right. But we just loved it. As well as all the audience, whose applause in the end of the concert showed how consensual was this performance. After some rest, 1000 RUSSOS proved that Portugal is not behind our fellow countries in what regards the post rock / sludge sonorities. Only with the moon behind them, this national duo set the mood for the next trip to the Earth’s satellite, departing from the Sabotage stage with MOON DUO trio. It was a space rock dance floor all over the place, where psycadelic stage lights and compassed drum kicks set the rhythm to the space guitar and keyboard that made us move our body. Don’t be shy, we saw you too.

As our last strengths were trying to beat the consumed brain velocity, EQUATIONS forced us to walk towards Rio and, with the exit that close, WHITE MANNA’s indie sounds couldn’t stop us anymore. 06 A.M.. See you on the next planet Reverence.

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