They came in droves, from all the other rooms of the Vodafone Mexefest festival, heading towards the Opera House. It was the time of English musician, Parisian heart, Benjamin Clementine, in what was the most anticipated concert the evening of Friday, in Lisbon, Vodafone Mexefest festival.
They arrived yet with the spirit in which They had been in most of the other concerts: talking to the partner’s hand on new friends, laughing glass in hand, taking with inevitable self-portraits smile with iPhone or discussing the economic situation of the country. The usual. The trivialities of life
There was everything: the most curious part because they had heard the debut album At Least For Now – but live the experience of listening to those songs is totally. different – and others because they had seen him in the Super Bock Super Rock festival in July. And still others, the most cynical or suspicious, that there are always on these occasions, to see if the phenomenon would not snake oil.
And suddenly heard piano notes, fine still with him just caress the instrument, as usual, tall, slender, aristocratic in bearing, but barefoot, african mane of long coat, sitting in a peculiar way on the edge of a stool.
The frivolity of the world or so if silenced. There was unrest in the packed room. The sound of the piano was rising in intensity slightly. And then there was that voice, something supernatural: the world’s guts, we did hear the Colosseum and the Avenida da Liberdade and – we are sure – Full Lisbon , moistened, went dead, bright-eyed, totally stunned, leaving for a moment the offal of life, turning to the essentials, to humanity that voice, that song.
In the end, the room came below. In fact, not stopped coming down along the concert. Let’s be clear. It fascinarmo us easy by his biography, as told in these pages several times. It is also easy to admire his voice, the magnetizing presence and his music, as one looks with a bit of coolness to a frame on the wall. But then he has the rest: it’s like us, or so fantasize, touches us, rolls us, exposes despair, anger, violent sweetness and also satisfaction – and instead of admiring only, we to love him.
And so it was throughout the concert. A relationship of devotion. The audience, have heard promises of love. There were those who did not stop crying. They beat up the palms compass. They sang to chants in unison. And the stage, moved but always humble, bowing before this celebration. Yes, it was so touching, so beautiful, like this. One of those nights you never forget.
Already we had seen on three previous occasions and it’s always different. In Brighton, for example, has an almost next recital of silence, making follow occasionally by a violinist. In two other situations, such as the Super Bock Super Rock festival, presented itself as a more conventional training, and this Friday was accompanied only by a drummer.
The arrangements and musical solutions also engendered are gone modifying, and even his stage presence is gone changing. Between musician who a few months ago just ruminated garbled sentences with the tour and the singer who now thanks in Portuguese and can interact with the audience will light years.
Sometimes the sound of the piano out cascaded , assisted by the battery, the notes chasing until he drop that elastic baritone. Sometimes it’s pianissimo, the Colosseum is silent, a chill seems to settle down, soon to be majestic, as if his voice, sublimating autobiographical lyrics, did rebound in the third counter, while the music, or jazz, or classical, or soul or blues, but all this while was hovering in space.
Sometimes closes his eyes, he transcends it, pull the voice limits, exposes an emotional expressiveness enraptured, to then pour an elegant intensity if glimpsing them his long fingers and eloquent gestures. The songs do not have a rigid structure. Those that the audience recognizes are being shredded ( London , Condolence , Adious , Nemesis , Cornerstone ), but there is also room for other songs, with swing and rhythm with drums, piano and voice in duels rolling.
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