SUMMER BREEZE BRASIL 2023 - FESTIVAL REPORT

The first edition of the Summer Breeze Brasil took place on April 29th and 30th, 2023 in Sao Paulo. The place where the festival took place was amazing. It is called Memorial de America Latina and is in the Barra Funda neighbourhood. The place is like a big park with two big parts that are communicated through a big bridge. It has really good transportation because is located close to the Barra Funda train station and there is also a good service of buses.

THE ORGANIZATION:

The first thing that got our attention was how well organized everything was. Really similar to the German edition. From the stages: two big ones (Hot Stage and Ice Stage) in one part of the Memorial, one crossing the bridge (Sun Stage) and a fourth one (Waves Stage) inside the Memorial. We had the opportunity of seeing the place when it was being built from the balcony of our hotel and we can tell you that it had nothing to envy to the biggest festivals in Europe. 

THE ACTION: SATURDAY APRIL 29th

The most difficult thing here is choosing which band to see. So, sometimes we chose to watch full sets and sometimes we decided to split and watch half and half. The first one was in the morning the heavy power metal of Germany´s VOODOO KISS. The band delivered a good show with tracks like "Eagle in the Sky" and "The Beauty and the Beast". The band reunited in 2022 after more than 20 years of disappearing from the metal scene and they sounded really well.

It was weird to see BENEDICTION at noon. The temperature was rising and these death metal masters made it even higher. With Dave Ingram´s return to vocals the band sounded really brutal. the show was also a good place to see new bassist Nik Sampson (Prolapse A.D., Splintered Soul, Damim) and he sounded really well in classics such as "I Bow To None", "The Grotesque", "The Dreams You Dread" and the new "Stormcrow".

Crossing the bridge we went to CRYPTA´s show. The band never disappoints with Fernanda Lira in optimal form, Luana Dametto like a machine behind the drums and the incredible guitar duet of Jessica Di Falchi and Tainá Bergamaschi. Despite some sound problems the band delivered one of the best shows of the day with tracks like "Kali", "Death Arcana" and "From the Ashes".

Back to one of the main stages, an historic show with members of bands that featured the late André Matos, SHAMAN and VIPER. The show featured classical VIPER tracks like "Living for the Night", "Under the Sun" and "A Cry from the Edge" with Andre´s spirit present through all the set. Then, the SHAMAN tracks like "Fairy Tale" and ending with ANGRA´s hymn "Carry On".

Then, came the turn of one of the most beloved bands of the late eighties - early nineties in the hard rock scene, SKID ROW. Kicking off with full power with "Slave to the Grind" the band delivered all their classics like "18 and life", "Monkey Business", "Piece of Me", ending with "Youth Gone Wild". Erik Grönwall´s vocals fitted really well the old tunes and the band was tight and heavy.

Then we only had to walk a couple of meters to the other stage to watch one of the best bands of the festival, SEPULTURA. The band´s discography is really big and they opted to do a show mixing classics like "Territory", "Roots Bloody Roots", "Refuse / Resist" or "Arise" with newer tracks like "Ali". We have to remark the crushing drumming by Eloy Casagrande that has been in the band for almost 12 years now. One of the best shows in the first day.

Moving back to the stage where SKID ROW had played earlier, the sun was falling and LAMB OF GOD appeared on the stage. The show is a succession of crushing tune after crushing tune. "Walk with me in Hell". "Omens", "Ruin", "Memento Mori". All of them were played here. And obviously the almighty "Redneck". 

A little bit tired due to the headbanging we crossed the bridge to watch German heavy metal masters ACCEPT. Except for a couple of newer tracks (some of them are already classics like "Teutonic Terror") most of the show are pure classics like "Restless and Wild", "Fast As a Shark" and "Princess of the Dawn". Ending with their hymn "Balls to the Wall".

We rested a little bit, ate something and went to the final show of the night, APOCALYPTICA in the Waves stage, where youn can get an intimate feeling for these kind of shows. The Finnish band featured guests like Simone Simons for the track "Rise Again" (the single already features Simone on vocals, so it was great to see her on stage). And besides their own compositions like "Not Strong Enough"APOCALYPTICA featured their classic covers of Metallica´s "Seek and Destroy" and "Nothing Else Matters" and Sepultura´s "Refuse / Resist". A good combination of powerful and climatic moments to end the day.

SUNDAY APRIL 30th

After a good breakfast we went directly to the Memorial de América Latina to watch the first show of the day, the brutal KRISIUN. Opening with "Ravager" the band has no mercy during the show. Tracks like "Blood of Lions" and "Combustion Inferno" are ideal for the first moshpits of the day. The band also delivered an all time classic such as Motörhead´s "Ace of Spades" before leaving the stage.

Right after the KRISIUN show moving to the other big stage we had the almighty GRAVE DIGGER. A show made of classic tracks of pure heavy metal. Songs like "Excalibur" coexist perfectly with newer tunes like "Hell is my Purgatory" or "Highland Farewell". But we, that are old (not so much haha) were waiting for the immortal "Heavy Metal Breakdown" and we got it !!

After GRAVE DIGGER, came the hard rock from the Swedes H.E.A.T. "Living on the Run", "1000 Miles", "A Shot of Redemption" rounded this pure hard rock show. And continuing in the hard rock spirit we went to the intimate Waves Stage to watch VIXEN. The band now consists of Lorraine Lewis on vocals, Britt Lightning on guitars, Roxy Petrucci on drums and the newest, local, Julia Lage on vocals. We arrived some minutes earlier and watched a little bit of the soundcheck, before the band started with "Rev It Up". VIXEN takes you some years back in time with the tunes of their first two albums combining more melodic songs like "Edge of a Broken Heart" with the more powerful "Cruisin´" or "Streets in Paradise". This is a show that definitely put a smile on our faces.

Crossing the bridge we arrived when TESTAMENT was starting. This band never but never disappoints, they have changed line-ups and they have always sound aggressive and really tight. The show is for the moshpit: "The New Order", "Into the Pit", "The Formation of Damnation", "D.N.R.", "Rise Up". All of them made thousands of people headbang and mosh. One of the best bands of the festival.

We made a little pause and then went directly to the KREATOR show. The same we said for TESTAMENT can be said for KREATOR. They never disappoint. "Hordes of Chaos", "People of the Lie", "Violent Revolution", "Flag of Hate", "Enemy of God" and many more were delivered here crushing the audience. Another of the best bands in the festival. 

Again we crossed the bridge to watch the grinding NAPALM DEATH. Despite not having Chane Embury on bass, the band delivered a powerful show combining classics like "Scum", "Lucis Fairytale" or "Unchallenged Hate" with newer material like "Contagion" and "Amoral". They also did their classic cover of Dead Kennedy´s "Nazi Punks Fuck Off". We almost broke our necks during this show.

We stayed on the stage to slow down a little bit and waited for the melodies of STRATOVARIUS. With a really clean sound the band delivered their hymns lie "Eagleheart", "Father Time", "Speed of Light" (most of them from the Timo Tolkki era). Timo Kotipelto´s voice had some problems but he managed to deliver the ending with "Black Diamond", "Forever" and "Hunting High and Low".

To give a proper end to this wonderful festival we went again to the Waves Stage to see EVERGREY and their progressive power metal. The band sounded really well in this intimate stage (the sound is crystal clear on this stage and you can listen perfectly each instrument which is essential in bands like EVERGREY). The band delivered tunes like "Where August Morn", "Distance" and "A Touch of Blessing" giving a golden end to this amazing festival.

The experience was really fantastic and we had the opportunity to watch many great bands in a place that made things in a really professional way.