Critic's evaluation
It was a hot night in São Paulo (SP). At 7pm, close to the Barra Funda subway station, a crowd formed in front of the new show house Fabrique Club, a place with capacity for 700 people. with capacity for 700 people. With the gates open, the internal environment began to take on new tones. The people there quietly sought a space near the small stage, which was occupied only by the stage, which was occupied only by a microphone stand that, at exactly 8:11 pm, 11 minutes late, was 11 minutes late, was taken over by the British Roo Panes.
With a mixture of hysterical and fanatical screams coming from the audience, the baptized Andrew Panes stood center stage with his guitar and, with shy smiles and the warm reception, he began the show with Indigo Home, a song from his first studio his first studio album from 2014.
Dressed casually in jeans and a pullover, Panes looked nervous, but but still risked a speech with the audience, whose admiring glances detached from the English musician. ", said the singer before describing the next song. "This music is about breakups and memorys. Memorys of what I lived", he said as he introduced Thinking Of Japan.
From then on, while the song was in exercise, the audience fell silent. Dividing space with the many cell phones that captured the moment, the eyes of the people there present conveyed a mixture of enchantment, admiration and complicity. At Panes, on the other hand, continued with a rigid and visibly nervous gaze focusing on the center of the audience.
When the music ended, the audience echoed with loud, crackling applause,
which, when silenced, gave way to a new speech from the artist. This speech
was interrupted by a problem with the guitar cable, forcing Panes to leave the stage for for a moment. When he returned, the star handled the situation with humor and made the audience laughed a little. Then, a new conversation ensued. "I wrote this song when I was in South Africa, six months ago". And so, Panes gave the São Paulo audience a surprise performance of There's A Place, a previously unreleased song.
Even after three songs and an insane audience participation during the chorus of Run Before The Storm, Roo Panes needed to present three more songs to finally feel the to finally feel at ease with the situation. And this moment came during the performance of Little Giant. Curiously, this was the most hysterical song of the show, After all, some fans screamed the title even before the singer announced it. However, the memorable moment happened as soon as the song ended, as there was a long wave of applause.
Quiet Man was announced by Panes as the last song, because, according to him, he was according to him, was no longer in conditions to continue with the show, signaling throat problems. So much so that at the end, the singer left the stage. However, without even giving time for the audience saddened, the musician returned to his post and began the encore with an order of songs different from the setlist.
The first to be presented was Ophelia, single from Quiet Men, his latest album, dated 2018. The song faced a big fight between its performance by Panes and performed by Panes and the insistent requests from the audience for the performance of Know Me Well. Heedless of the pleas and clearly clumsy, however, the musician continued the presentation of the song.
The moment that would mark the end of the pleas finally arrived, if Roo
Panes went ahead with the setlist, something that didn't happen. The song
song initially selected to close the night was in fact Know Me Well, but was changed but was changed at the last minute for Open Road. The reason, according to the singer himself, was due to the high tone that it required. Even with the imminent disappointment, the audience was not discouraged, and delivered another memorable participation and a dignified end to the weak show of the Englishman, decreed at 21h45.
Yes, weak. This can be attributed to several reasons. The first one is that, even though first is that, even though it is a highly intimate show, with voice and guitar, there could very well have been a more lively interaction between singer and audience. However, what happened was the opposite. Roo Panes seemed, during the entire set, to be nervous and uncomfortable, giving the audience maximum command of the event. The result: While it was the host's job to instigate the audience to sing along and to stimulate an energetic delivery on the part of the audience, what happened was the opposite. It was the 560 fans present who struggled to get Panes to put on a lively show. Panes to put on a lively show and transform his mostly apathetic, rigid look into a more harmonious and inviting one.
The second reason can be attributed to the star's apparent lack of preparation for the show that night of September 14, 2019. Changing songs at the last minute because one requires greater delivery than the other seemed like an excuse for the audience not to notice his lack of training.
The third and final reason is attributed to the way the show was constructed. Roo Panes already entered late and apparently relied on long introductory conversations in order to keep the that the time initially agreed upon for the duration of the performance was properly adhered to.
It took seven years for Panes to finally perform a show on São Paulo soil. However, the expectations for a memorable and good quality show were not properly met. Duly matched. Next time.
