The #AtYourHome platform is an initiative from Where the Music Meets which was first built to raise money to support the Project Open Air on building open-source ventilators and other medical devices to fight Covid-19. At the same time the platform tries to give some love back to musicians with part of the donations being forward to them. Now, the #AtYourHome platform is supporting music venues which because of a greater good were left without shows and that heavily depend on donations or will cease to exist.
In this edition, the #AtYourHome supported Anjos70 presenting a whole week schedule of home-made shows in order to try to collect necessary donations for both the concert house and the artists themselves. Some of the artists playing during this festival were artists who were supposed to play at Anjos70 during these months. Others were artists at the beginning of their careers who aspired to be able to play there. And others, were artists who some-when in their careers played at Anjos70 or were in some way connected to this concert house and association.
This is our official review as a blog post, of the festival. We include all shows for you to see, and knowing we are still far from the amount we wanted to reach we give you the change to make a small donation to any of the artists playing by pressing the donation button and leaving the name of the artist in the comments. If no name is provided, the donation will be divide for all the artists and the venue.
15th of May (Midnight Ambassador, Nico Paulo and Tim Baker)
Midnight Ambassador opened the #AtYourHome meets Anjos70 festival with a nice indie-pop home show. The obvious highlight goes for when the piano felt all over him, leading to a very funny situation with which he dealt so well. Laughing out loud on the situation, André continued playing his show, more entertained with himself than ever.
With out-of-this-world vocals and a firm sensibility, Nico Paulo enchanted in her home-made show. Her beautiful folkish songs that easily sound like Joni Mitchel and Joan Baez, also embrace her roots as well as the Canadian inspirations. Totally natural, and also very welcoming, Nico Paulo #AtYourHome show was a rare beauty.
Using a guitar and a piano, Tim Baker unusually melodic vocals put on a show that felt heartfelt, peaceful and powerful. Drawing on the atmosphere of his home, this was a beautiful show we will keep on listening to several times.
16th of May (Claraboia and Callaz)
Playing live remotely from two distinct locations, Claraboia show at the #AtYourHome was an intense and beautiful performance with ambient vibes and powerful vocals by Filipa Ribeiro. Sensibility and a beautiful session that made us feel together and in peace.
Listening and watching to a Callaz show is not the most ordinary experience. Playing on a very own home-made stage, simulating a gentle disco at the same time as you feel the home sweet home ambiance, she played around with samples, piano elements, dancing steps, sung in several languages, and in all of it she did exactly what she is so talked about.
17th of May (Vicente and King John)
Funny, goofy even, but very very good, Vicente played one of his first-ever live acts on his #AtYourHome show. The best part about Vicent is the way he sounds original mixing Jazz formation with RnB elements in a very hard to put in words style. Very communicative and warm, his songs also reflect his genuine personality. With few original songs released he intercalated those originals with unusual covers. All good taste, in our opinion. And an incredibly unique voice. We are eager to see him live in person.
We wrote about King John folk-rock album released this year, and we can say it easily turned into one of our favorite L.P.s. The Azorean singer-songwriter deeply poetic folk was also evident in his #AtYourHome show. Distant from the natural black keys vibe his recorded songs transmit, and with a more evident acoustic and stripped vibe, we still can’t stay away from feeling his songs in our bones.
18th of May (Arcanjo, Jasmin, Gianz)
ARCANJO deep vocals and neo-folk guitar sonority, remember some of the classic composers like Nick Cave or Lou Reed, and his #AtYourHome show showcased his strong inner world. With Portuguese and English vibes ARCANJO intercalates his songs with some French words that sound natural to his French-like songwriting. Acoustic, raw but with his evident power, this was one for the lovers and thinkers.
Jasmim is one of the best modern Portuguese singer-songwriters and part of the reputation comes from the beautifully melodic slow songs he writes and sings. Starting the show with a song about diving, and keeping that cadence throughout his show, it is in the guitar bits that most songs find the space to breathe faster. From folk elements to popular Portuguese music, his sonority also sounds pop at times but never ceases to sound delicate and savorous. 45 minutes that made us calmer and in peace with our quarantine.
Gianz just released his first-ever song, few days before he played #AtYourHome. In a mix between hip hop and traditional music, and accompanied just by a guitar, he interpreted his pop-infused songs filled with poetic Portuguese lyrics in a more stripped and acoustic way.
19th of May (Olivae, RLGNS, CO$TANZA)
Accompanied by Sara his partner in life, Olivae deeply melodic voice and natural folk feel is always so easy to listen to and to feel soothed. Their home set was filled with personal views and story-telling about the song’s origins and the way they see life and self-discovery. Singing and playing songs in Portuguese and English, but always lullabying his songs, we really like Olivae.
We wrote about RLGNS several times. And that alone was leaving us eager to watch their show. Obviously retained from playing their live act (that must be so good…), the duo played a DJ set that got us in the mood for the consequent DJ sets. And even though we would like to talk about their dance moves, we can’t avoid partying to their show every time we play it back. We challenge you not to move along with this. After 50 minutes we were left asking for more to the screen. Think about all kinds of electronics. Think about a DJ set that mixes them all. This is RLNGS.
When we talk about homemade shows, we don’t quite know what we are talking about. And until you see CO$TANZA #AtYourHome show you won’t know why. Exploring every single room on his house, he started with a savage-like drift on an electric guitar and followed with a PC-DJ set of some of his most known songs. In the middle he showcased his home-studio, advertised it, and got back to the show. Funny, but also very good and entertaining. This is CO$TANZA.
20th of May (Extended Records day with Diogo and King Kami)
The first thing you will notice is the awesome and crazy visual composition on Diogo’s show. The Extended Records man gave a full hour show, where the dog gifs were only the first layer. From Brazilian samba elements to Bossa Nova elements and more deep electronic vibes, the rhythm was always high and the transitions smooth and unnoticeable.
King Kami did her magic in the #AtYourHome show. By this, we mean, she was electrifying from the first moment. Mixing funk with electronic, her relaxed ways were always met with gorgeous variations in a powerful set. With the obvious highlight being the small cat that made her company during part of the set, this is one home show we intend on re-visiting multiple times.
21st of May (Iguana Garcia and 2DE1)
Mixing only elements that he produced during the quarantine and this period where he has been stuck at home, Iguana Garcia gave us a full hour of mixing very easy to listen to and to dance along. Always subtle in the transitions and filled with organic elements in the mix, everything sounds atmospheric but also like we were listening to his songs on a big saloon. Visibly happy and completely in it, this is a show inside a show.
2DE1 gave what was for us the highlight show of this quarantine period. Preparing the show as a proper live show, and with an abundant and quality sonority in the whole show, they did not step away from delivering their best show at home. Pop mixed with Brasilian vibes, Jazz elements, and a lot of that something special we can’t quite describe. We would say 2DE1 is in itself a band that creates a genre. And we won’t be surprised if in some years they turn out to be the main indie Brasilian band playing shows all over the world.
We thank all the artists that took part in this festival and we hope for the best knowing we well keep having the initiative in order to fight the lack of revenues coming from canceled and delayed live shows that leave musicians and concert venues out of their art and business.