Friendly Fires at Circo Voador

By Maíra Amorim, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO – Another international band is coming to Rio: the British group Friendly Fires will perform at Circo Voador in Lapa, on August 15. They have been celebrated by audience and critics worldwide and are now landing in Rio to showcase their mix of rock, indie pop, disco and samba at the festival PopLoad Gig2. The concert will take place just one day after the American-Brazilian group Little Joy performs at Fundição Progresso.

Friendly Fires is the darling indie band of the moment. They have participated in some of the biggest summer festivals around the world, such as Lollapalooza (U.S.), Benicassim (Spain), Reading Festival (UK) and Creamfields (UK). The British newspaper The Guardian gave them a stellar review, noting their music was full of “modern pop”, with “every track pulsing and clattering around an electronic heart and almost never exceeding three minutes.”

The band is formed by Ed Macfarlane, Jack Savidge and Ed Gibson who have been collaborating since the tender age of fourteen. They created the band in 2007 in Ed’s garage in St Alban’s, a suburb of London. They first came into contact with samba in London, and the Brazilian rhythm has been heavily influencing their music ever since.

In a recent interview with O Globo, Ed Macfarlane declared to be very excited about finally visiting the country of samba. “We just finished a single (Kiss of Life) using the sounds of the Brazilian carnival, with the help of a samba school in London. It’s the best song we have ever done. We are experimenting with new sounds because I hate to be repetitive,” he said.

Friendly Fires’ live performances are always very powerful. Macfarlane has a very particular dancing style on stage. “I think it’s a mix of hardcore punk and disco. I don’t know where it came from, I don’t dance like this when I’m in a nightclub or watching another group. The sound of my band makes me dance that way,” he told O Globo.

Their concert in Rio is part of the second edition of the PopLoad Gig festival which was created by journalist and DJ Lúcio Ribeiro, who also writes one of the country’s most famous music blogs, Popload. The festival is taking place in São Paulo as well, on August 17 at Studio SP.

Friendly Fires’ concerts will be opened by two new Brazilian indie bands: Copacabana Club and the electro-sexy-grunge Brollies & Apples, who will be making their debut concert. Brollies & Apples is formed by musicians already known in the indie scene – Rodrigo Brandão and Bianca Jhordão from Leela and Carol Teixeira and Chernobyl from Comunidade Ninjitsu.

Popload’s Gig first edition took place in June with performances from Matt & Kim (New York), No Age (Los Angeles), The View (Scotland), Holger (São Paulo) and Mickey Gan (Espírito Santo).

To preview the Friendly Fires’ unique sound, visit their MySpace page.

PopLoad Gig 2: Friendly Fires, Copacabana Club and Brollies & Apples
Circo Voador – 9PM
Rua dos Arcos, S/N – Lapa – Tel.: (21) 2533-0354
Tickets from R$50