Seu Jorge at the Royal Albert Hall
Family Atlantica Duo
Royal Albert Hall, 30 May 2017
It's always an awe-inspiring sight approaching the impressive Royal Albert Hall but this time as I got nearer I spotted a number of people sporting the "Steve Zissou" red beanie hats and I knew I was among my people.
Ever since I first saw Rushmore back in the 90s I've been a huge fan of Wes Anderson. One of the biggest thrills of my life was getting to ask him a question at a BFI Q&A many years back. His 2004 film The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou has a host of good memories for me and it also introduced me to the talents of Seu Jorge, the Brazilian samba-rock star who also appeared in the fantastic 2002 film City Of God.
I must admit I don't really know Jorge's music beyond that but after David Bowie's death last year, the thought of seeing him paying tribute to the Thin White Duke by covering his songs in Portuguese, as he did in The Life Aquatic, in such a wonderful setting, seemed like a brilliant experience as both an Anderson fan and a Bowie fan.
After the compère announced this was "a concert from two artists: one in person, one in spirit", our first glimpse of Jorge is in the shadows as he crouches at the side of the stage holding his guitar but there's no mistaking that red hat and the blue uniform, the very one he sported in the movie. The whole front of the stage has a nautical theme with ropes and a ship's wheel among other things, with a single wooden chair and a microphone at the centre. A simple but effective set-up and Jorge soon takes his place to roars from the crowd.
He begins with a slowed-down and samba-fied Ziggy Stardust, the guitar part becoming a lovely shuffle accompanied by his playful sing-along "ba-baa ba-ba-ba ba-ba baaa". He follows this with the story of how he came to be a part of The Life Aquatic. It started on a lazy day in Brazil and a phone call from an American asking if he wanted to play Pele in a movie ("I can't play soccer!"). Turns out it was Wes Anderson and it was a guitar-playing seaman called Pele who he wanted him to play, not the soccer star.
Anderson then asked him if he knew any Bowie songs, but Jorge at that time knew just two (I'm Afraid Of Americans and Let's Dance). The director sent him about 40 classic Bowie songs and Jorge says that was when he finally fell in love with Bowie's music. On the first day of filming Anderson was keen to film one of the Bowie tunes he had learned, Rebel Rebel, except, unluckily for Jorge, that was one of the few he hadn't managed yet. He went off asking God for inspiration and out of nowhere came his gentle bossa nova version of the Bowie glam rock anthem.
With these little stories, the simple set-up on stage and the quiet, thoughtful take on Bowie's songs, the whole thing felt very warm and intimate despite the grandiose setting of the Royal Albert Hall and Jorge, of course, is so sweet and charming, it's easy to adore him. I understand fully why so many people have smiles on their faces tonight.
After running through a selection of 70s Bowie he ended with a quiet When I Live My Dream. The audience rose to their feet and urged him out for an encore and a large screen slowly lowered behind Jorge on the stage. He then performed three of the songs - Rebel Rebel, Oh! You Pretty Things and Queen Bitch - for a second time but this time with visuals from the film, animations and photos of David Bowie playing behind him. You would think hearing the songs again would be overkill but with the added element of the visuals it made it even more enjoyable and many times when scenes that people love or shots of Jorge in the film appeared, the crowd even cheered.
The whole encore, like the show, was filled with good feeling and when it ends and the real Bowie begins the sing over the speakers the hall is filled with cheers and applause while Jorge holds his guitar up high like a returning hero. What a treat this show was.
Just a quick word about support act Family Atlantica Duo as I didn't get to see their full set, only the final two songs. Comprised of Venezuelan vocalist Luzmira Zerpa, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Yglesias (who mainly seemed to be playing tambourine and percussion when I briefly saw him), Zerpa looked amazing with her head of bushy black hair and played an incredible flamenco-style acoustic guitar. For the final song she even managed to get the whole of the Royal Albert Hall singing along by teaching us the lyrics to a traditional song. It was huge fun and they sounded amazing. I'm really sad I missed the beginning of their set but I'm definitely glad I caught the fantastic ending.
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