Gathering of Bands at Rock in Rio Will Bring Surprises

09/12/2013 - 09h05

More than any other music festival in Brazil, Rock in Rio attracts people interested in the experience of participating in the event and, often, without connecting so much to the top bands.

This is evidenced by the tens of thousands of tickets sold in the initial batches even before the announcement of the musicians and bands that are part of this latest edition.

In the rock festival's fourth edition in 2011, which was also held in the current City of Rock, Folha talked to several people who were there on a night when the line-up didn't really have that much to say to them.

On October 1st that year, 31 year old attorney Sandro Moraes Filho said, somewhat embarrassed, that he didn't have CDs or downloaded music from the three main attractions of the evening: Coldplay, Maroon 5 and Maná.

"I only discovered that there was a Mexican band called Maná after I had already bought the ticket," said Moraes.

Like many others, he had bought the Official Rock in Rio t-shirt, seen as a special kind of uniform in hotels throughout the city. It's the most notable indication of the work put into strengthening the brand, which celebrates its 28th year and can be perceived on the streets of Rio.

Divulgação

Brazilian Metal Band Sepultura

Another test of its fortitude: tickets for Rock in Rio 2013 were purchased in every state in the country.

While the World stage, the principal of Rock in Rio, hosts starting tomorrow the famous names that ensure the 85 thousand daily tickets for the festival, is in the smaller stage, the Sunset, where the seduction of the public runs in another way. The attraction takes place by surprise, the result of unusual combinations

The scheduled gigs there are, almost all, meetings between two artists or bands. "We seek uniqueness and the performance of a single moment, in a magical way," musician Zé Ricardo told Folha in a conversation at a music studio in Brooklyn, New York two weeks ago.
Among the blending of musicians, George Benson and Ivan Lins, Sepultura and Zé Ramalho, and Living Colour and Angélique Kidjo, will be playing together, among others.

Translated by STEVE HUGHES

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