Amy Winehouse. January 16, 2011

There is not much in the way of music that Steve and I actually agree on. He is into some bizarre form of alternative music that blends punk, heavy rock, “normal” alterative and maybe a bit of ska (?), whilst I am into music where I can hear the lyrics and that doesn’t blast my ears every time it comes on.

But yesterday we went to the “Summer Soul Festival” here in Sao Paulo, six performers with the headline act of Any Winehouse. She is one of the few singers that we both actually sit and listen to. Pity Marcelo when we have the I-pod on in the car. His tastes run to rock, and judging by the sideburns and pointy shoes, Elvis in particular.

Tickets for the concert came in two tiers. R$ 100 (about US$ 60) for regular admission and R$ 500 (about US$300) for “premium”. We chose the latter. For my R$ 500 plus R$ 100 booking fee I was lead to believe that I would have a seat and be under cover. If you have heard about the flooding in Brazil lately, you will know that we are in the middle of the rainy season, so thinking that we were going to be under cover was actually quite important. Well, wrong on both counts. No seating and no cover.

The tickets said that the gates opened at 3 pm and the concert would start at 6 pm. Basically “first come first served”. If you could be bothered to get there at 3 o’clock then
a. You could park
b. You could get right at the front
c. You would be on your feet for a total of about 9 ½ hours

We were advised not to get there before 8 pm which was just about what we achieved. We missed two/three of the warm up acts (not sure if two performers came on together) but arrived just in time to see the first of the main acts – Mayer Hawthorne. A Buddy Holly look alike and actually quite good.

Janelle Monae was the second big act. She gave a weird stage show that left us both wondering “what the heck was that all about”? But at least she can sing. It looked like scenes from “Eyes wide shut” heavy black capes and masks which must have been extraordinarily hot under the lights and the Sao Paulo heat. There was much writhing on the floor which we couldn’t see because we were standing right in front below the stage, and at the end she drenched herself in water – presumably to cool down which seems a pretty stupid thing to do given the amount of electrical current that must have been surging all over the stage.

So by around 10.15 she was done and the stage was set for the final act – Amy Winehouse. It took about 30 minutes to get the set ready, and a further hour to get Amy ready……whatever that involves.

By this time the audience were getting pretty restless. Although you couldn’t take alcohol into the area, it was pretty much available once inside. Between the audience and the stage there was a barrier patrolled by security guards. There were a couple of scuffles that broke out and within a very short space of time they were over the barriers and in with the crowd. The crowd then chanted and pointed to the guilty party or parties and summary justice was swift with the accused removed from the scene. We didn’t know whether they were removed altogether or just out of that space, but they were gone.

Being an open area, everyone was smoking and personal space was at a premium. Having stood so long in one place though, everyone was aware of the people around them, and when people tried to crash the space to make it closer to the front, the long standers basically closed ranks and stopped them getting through. Summary justice in action again. We had stood for hours to be twenty feet from the stage and no-one was going to get in front of us.

Amy Winehouse was actually pretty good. She is tiny and was dwarfed by the band around her. Her speaking voice is pure London, but her singing voice is quite amazing. Not sure if she was really drunk or just acting the part but there was a certain amount of swaying which looked completely uncoordinated. She had a mug of something that she was drinking from – not sure if it was vodka or chamomile tea or maybe both. She sang all her big hits and a lot besides and the audience were pretty receptive, even when she forgot the lyrics, which she did on several occasions.

After the concert began the nightmare of getting out. Thank god for Marcelo. Fifteen minutes after we left, we saw him and sank into the back of the car, feet aching and very grateful not to be stood upright. Five hours of standing at my age is too much, I am the first to admit.

That said, am I glad I went? Absolutely.

Would I go again to a concert like that? Absolutely not.