By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Five international acts will play six not-to-be-missed shows in Rio between May 7th and May 13th. The concerts from One Direction, Marky Ramone, Au Revoir Simone, Lacuna Coil and Eddie Vedder, who will play twice, offer a little something for every music fan as they will bring the best of classic punk, pop, electro dream pop, gothic metal and alternative rock to the Cidade Maravilhosa this week.
Marky Ramone starts things off with his South American Blitzkrieg show at Lapa’s Teatro Odisséia on Wednesday, May 7th. Presented by A Grande Roubada Produções, Ramone, the former drummer for the classic punk band the Ramones and only living member of the longest-running lineup of the band, arrives in Rio with vocalist Michale Graves (formerly of the Misfits). The two last appeared in the city during a 2013 sunset stage performance at Rock in Rio. Ramones fans will not be disappointed as the pair, along with the Blitzkrieg Band, are expected to perform punk classics including; “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Rock & Roll High School.”
One Direction, the pop boy band sensation, will finally arrive in Rio on Thursday, May 8th at Barra da Tijuca’s Parque dos Atletas/Cidade do Rock. Brazilian fans began buying tickets for the group’s Rio stop on their ongoing “Where We Are Tour 2014” during June of last year.
The British-Irish quintet of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson was formed on the UK television singing competition The X Factor a mere four years ago and have rocketed to international stardom since. They are known for their hit songs including; “What Makes You Beautiful“, “You & I”, and “Story Of my Life”, among others.
From boy bands to girl groups, Au Revoir Simone, a Brooklyn, U.S-based all female trio, will also appear in Rio for the first time on Thursday, May 8th. The group, consisting of Erika Forster, Annie Hart and Heather D’Angelo will bring their electronic dream pop sounds to Lagoa’s Miranda thanks to the help of Brazilian crowdfunding platform Queremos. Influenced by bands and artists including Stereolab, Lali Puna, Pavement and The Beach Boys, they are known for their songs “The Lucky One”, “Stay Golden,” “Sad Song,” and “Crazy“.
Next on Sunday, May 11th, Italian band Lacuna Coil returns to Rio again bringing their melodic heavy metal to Lapa’s Circo Voador. The band was last at the venue for a March 1st Rio debut in 2013. They arrive this time in support of their newest album entitled, Broken Crown Halo, released just over a month ago on March 31st. The album includes the singles: “Nothing Stands In Our Way,” “Die & Rise” and “I Forgive (But I Won’t Forget Your Name).” The songs are again notable due to the dueling male and female leads. Andrea Ferro alternately belts out gravely toned vocals with death metal growls while Cristina Scabbia follows with powerful melodic tones.
Also on May 11th Eddie Vedder, frontman of legendary grunge-rock band Pearl Jam, plays the first of his two shows at Barra da Tijuca’s Citibank Hall. Pearl Jam was last in Brazil as part of the 2013 Lollapalooza music festival in São Paulo.
Although Vedder as a solo artist has only released two albums: 2007’s film soundtrack, Into the Wild and 2011’s Ukulele Songs; he has a large following due to the massive success of Pearl Jam, who have sold over sixty million album copies worldwide. A second date for Vedder was added in Rio due to the high demand for the first show scheduled.
Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, known best for his soundtrack for the film “Once” will open for Vedder on both the 11th and 12th.
For more information about the shows, including information for buying tickets, prices, times and venue locations, see The Rio Times Nightlife Guide.