Critic's evaluation
The darkness of the Interlagos Race Track embraced the crowd that crowded the lawn waiting for the arrival of foreigners from Frankenmuth. The clock ticketed. The hands marked 6:20 p.m., the exact point at which the Kiszka brothers and Danny Wagner took the Budweiser stage. Greta Van Fleet's debut on Paulistano soil was beginning.
A bang is heard. Danny Wagner performed intense and heavy grooves on his drums, whose front part was decorated with a Brazilian flag wrapped in white flowers. An instant of silence. Then the Kiszka brothers enter the stage with Josh revering the audience with the Roberto Carlos gesture, throwing flowers at the audience. Formalities done, the quartet breaks free and pulls the intro of The Cold Wind, officially opening the presentation of Greta Van Fleet at Lollapalooza Brasil 2019.
The audience soon plunged into the swing of music. Josh, in his monarchic-retro outfit, took the microphone for himself and, without much effort, threw his tuned phonies. Meanwhile, Jake materialized his riffs making his already typical body movement. By far a registered trademark.
It is true, however, that the audience as a whole yearned to see, among other things, if the vocalist would be able to carry out his screams without falling into the fine mesh. And it was with The Cold Wind and his "mamamamas" that Josh Kiszka gave his first message to the one who, until then, was the biggest audience of 07/04/19 at Lollapalooza.
The second single from From The Fires is by Jake Kiszka. Safari Song not only pulled the mouth from those who were there, but made several masseurs happy due to the intense headbanging practically choreographed by the masses that occupied the surroundings of Bud Records.
Holding tightly to the microphone and with his mouth close to the instrument, Josh Kiszka did no different. He sang making faces and with his jaw almost sawed, as usual. And more: Again his screams didn't leave the tracks. On the contrary, they came out impeccably. The same happened to Danny Wagner, who masterfully presented his precision in the drumsticks.
Then came another stamp. Black Smoke Rising prolonged the noise and exaltation stimulated by the previous music, leading the audience to an ecstatic euphoria. Another highlight of this performance was the exhalation of the purity and rhythmic originality of the Michigan quartet, which effortlessly and brilliantly dominated the Interlagos Race Track.
The country ballad Flower Power continued the presentation. With a simple rotation, Sam Kiszka left his bass aside and showed himself in front of the keyboard. Throwing timid and sincere smiles, Josh sang walking all over the stage and made the lyrical "mammas" be sung in chorus by the crowd, which in the midst of a darkness, had occasional flashes created by lighters lit in the rhythmic hands of the fans.
Continuing with the quiet session of the performance comes Watch Me, the first and only cover performed by Greta Van Fleet in his repertoire. Owned by the English composer Claudius Afolabi "Labi" Siffre, or just Labi Siffre, the song did not cause commotion. It conquered a warm receptivity, functioning as a simple rest to the several mouths present there.
With a not so simple riff intro, Black Flag Exposition brought an intoxicating instrumental by having Sam Kiszka back on bass. With spikes of fervor and an aggressive chorus, the audience was once again inserted in an unquestionable agitation. A commotion that dominated even the frontman Josh Kiszka, who was insistently beating the pandeiro on his legs with a unique frenzy. This when he did not extend his arms and opened his hands as if he revered the moment.
Like a false tranquilizer, the next execution was Watching Over. The song in the audience was a movement à la Axl Rose with its unique blues take. It is true, however, that those who were there also witnessed moments of euphoric evolution caused by the pauses in the music and the faces of Josh as he intoned the rising highs of the composition.
Among the soils and extension instruments of Watching Over was brought, like a medley, the aggressive-melodic Edge Of Darkness. It was on that occasion that, like a contagion, headbanging completely dominated the audience that was piling up closer and closer to the stage. Josh, as usual, rhythmically swung his right leg while, with each sentence sung, he looked abruptly to the side, causing the feathers attached to his costume to swing quickly.
It was also in this song that there were epic moments. During the instrumentals, Josh positioned himself on the edge of the stage raising his arms up high with his hands rigidly between open arms. Another point was Jake Kiszka's long, contagious and intoxicating solo. And the last, but not least, the instrumental that ruled the base of the guitarist's performance. The pressure, precision and compass presented there caused lasting shivers even for those who were passing between Lollapalooza's stages.
To close, the track selected by the group was Highway Tune. Not only did the audience sing the entire song in union with Josh's vocals, but it created, in the region near the railing, a kind of jumper current that infected the other corners of the audience. An indescribable animation and participation that ended at 7:20 p.m., as predicted by Lollapalooza's organization.
Come back always, Greta Van Fleet. The doors of the stages of São Paulo are now open to you!
