Pixies and Jack White, the two biggest attractions of the return edition of the Popload Festival, held this Wednesday (12), had to deal with the problem that plagues all veteran artists with a handful of songs already burned in minds. How do you put on a show that doesn’t just become a nostalgic exercise, but doesn’t scare or bore the audience? In their own way, the two tried to solve the equation, and they succeeded.

The Pixies, chosen to close the night, certainly suffer the most. The group emerged in the second half of the 80s and released a series of five highly influential albums, although at the time they were not selling well. Today, it doesn’t matter. Audiences have finally caught up with them, and since reuniting in 2004, after a decade apart, they can perform on major stages around the world reaping the rewards of their pioneering spirit.

The thing is, three of those early works (the mini-LP “Come On Pilgrim,” “Surfer Rosa,” and “Doolittle,” from 1987, 1988, and 1989) became modern rock classics and influenced generations and generations of fans and bands. , starting with Nirvana and it is the songs of this triad that will always form the backbone of an American show.

On the other hand, after a while it became clear that they would need new songs to show the public, so that the quartet didn’t just turn into a nostalgia machine.

A few weeks ago, the quartet, Black Francis (vocals and guitar), David Lovering (drums), Joey Santiago (guitar) and Paz Lenchantin, who replaces original bassist Kim Deal, released “Doggerel”, the fourth album of this “phase two”. Like its predecessors, it’s a good record, with some really good stuff, even without having the same impact as songs made over three decades ago.

Last night they showed three songs from the album and two more from the latest crop. The problem may have been the decision to place almost all of them very close to each other, which caused some dispersion in the middle of the show, although many people had to leave the Tietê sports center to listen (or listen again) to this material. .

Those “adrenaline crash” moments aside, the band put on a show that left everyone with a smile on their faces. Without, literally, exchanging a single word with the public, Francis and co. released a handful of songs that are on the tip of any self-respecting indie rock fan’s tongue.

Although relatively “short” by their standards, there were 24 songs compared to the 38 played the day before in Rio de Janeiro, they delivered a show that knew how to be tender and fierce in equal measure, even with a few surprises. , in case of “Ana” or the beautiful cover of “Winterlong” by Neil Young recorded by them on a tribute album to the Canadian in 1989. Francis was already visibly hoarse at the end, as he continues to howl as if he was still 22, but even that didn’t trouble the night, far from it.

It’s true that a Pixies show without “Bone Machine and “Monkey Gone To Heaven” will always leave a “missing” taste to the public. However, the results were more than positive.

Jack White has sold far more records than the Boston band, even though they don’t enjoy the same “legend” status as them. He also produces a lot, having a lot to show in the short time of a gig. The solution, in his case, is to interweave the most recent material with songs from the past, whether from his solo album, the White Stripes or his side bands, creating a kind of continuum, where all the songs seem dialogue with each other. .

Recently, White released two new albums almost simultaneously. The heavier, “Fear Of The Dawn”, was what he preferred to show with more intensity in his show.

Unlike the Pixies, he seeks to communicate more directly with the audience, drawing applause, thanking them for the affection, and also encouraging the excellent trio that accompanies him to shine with him. The audience certainly approved of the concert but, as expected, they were delighted with the devastating final sequence which changed “Fell In Love With A Girl” (from the White Stripes, “Steady As She Goes” (from the Raconteurs, who were on the even Popload in 2019) and, of course, “Seven Nation Army”, with what might be the last great popular riff in rock history.

Popload also had Cat Power shows, which would work better in a more intimate venue, despite the artist’s enormous sympathy and undeniable talent as a performer, the amusing Chet Faker, who performed alone on stage, aided by pre-recorded bases and alternating between keyboards and guitar, in addition to a concert by Pitty and Fresno, Perotá Chingó and Jup do Bairro who left the stage in protest, because his sound was cut off before he could finish his show as expected. .

(Leandro Saueia)