Ney Matogrosso took the tour, now called “Bloco na Rua – Ginga para Dar e Vender,” to its climax on Saturday, the 10th of this month, at Allianz Parque in São Paulo. With very few empty seats in the Palmeiras arena, the artist showed that he had plenty of wood to burn, even on a night when the thermometers dropped below 10 degrees Celsius. Ney has been touring Brazil with the show for five years, and he has seen a holy night.
At 83, the singer has delighted her audience. She is practically a science against ageism. Her voice remains a force of nature and the physical performance is impressive by all accounts, in an hour and a half show.
It's not just a matter of breathing or exploding muscles, as Mick Jagger does, another example of longevity. Nye's body is a performing instrument, contracting and expanding. To say that he sings with his body is not a slogan, but the best definition of his solo choreography.
Added to the slim figure that parades on stage is a very sharp orchestra, which has been with Nye for more or less two decades, and a repertoire that includes some of MPB's most relevant composers. The show includes three songs, strategically spread across the setlist, which form a kind of backbone of the show, given their prominent positions in the popularity that Nye has achieved in his career.
The opening of the show, and the tour's name, “Eu Quero É Botar Meu Bloco na Rua”, by Sergio Sampaio, reproduces the festive atmosphere that has characterized the singer's repertoire, bringing a strong and challenging political connotation, another facet of the artist's music.
“Pavão Mysteriozo,” Ednardo’s classic song from the 70s, carries in its lyrics the strangeness that has defined some phases of Ney’s career, both in music and visuals.
But for many Allianz Parque fans, the emotions became stronger when Ney sang “Sangue Latino,” a national hit with Secos e Molhados, the band that changed MPB music forever in its short life, between 1973 and 1974. In the 1950s and 1960s, which formed a large part of the audience at Allianz, Secos & Molhados still has a strong memory.
The collection was generous in including the singer's favorite famous composers. Cases include Rita Lee, with “Jardins da Babilônia” and “Corista de Rock”, and Itamar Assumpção, with “Já Sei” and “Já Que Tem Que”.
By Chico Buarque, perhaps the composer most recorded by Ney, there are four songs: “Tua Cantiga”, “Yolanda”, “Postal de Amor” and “Ponta do Lápis”, these last two partnerships between Chico and Raimundo Fagner.
Among the songs that Nay practically took for himself when recording versions that were more widely appreciated than the originals are “O Último Dia” by Paulinho Mosca and “Poema” by Cazuza. Two other moments return songs from the giants of MPB: “Roendo as Unhas” by Paulinho da Viola, and “Como 2 e 2” by Caetano Veloso.
Especially for this edition of the stadium show, Ney included “Pro Dia Nascer Feliz”, original by Barão Vermelho, and “Balada do Louco”, from the Mutantes repertoire. In these two, and in some slight changes to the songs that have been on the tour since the beginning, it is possible to notice a more swinging tendency, perhaps more effective in front of larger audiences. The audience at the Allianz agreed.
