Return day marks the end of life. Da Weasel immortalized themselves on stage in the spirit of Portuguese hip-hop and sealed the Imagine Dragons with their third festival performance with the perfection we’re used to, day out. This year, 210,000 people attended the festival, which confirmed its return in 2023.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, dozens of T-shirts from Imagine Dragons, one of the headlines closing the last day of Alive, were already roaming the Algés seaside park. Thiago Fernandez, 29, and Casimira Lima, 28, traveled more than 300 kilometers to see a pop-rock band for the second time. He defended the young player from Guimarães: “When we saw them in 2017, it was great and now I know it will be the same.” Despite being “more commercial,” the couple assumed they were waiting for Dan Reynolds’ band comeback.
“It’s Time,” the group’s first single released in 2011, set the tone for the “unforgettable” performance that Imagine Dragons performed for the NOS Alive audience. João Maia, 21, of Santarém admitted: “I couldn’t pick a loud moment. The whole concert was unforgettable and every moment was unique.” Wearing a T-shirt with the band’s name, the young man revealed that the pauses created in the performance to introduce the next song and thus facilitate the message of each one, were his favorite moments. Imagine Dragons arrived with an organized performance, in which a male voice echoed around the room, between breaks in songs, with a message explaining the next song and its meaning. For two hours, singer Dan Reynolds was always in touch with the audience and made inspirational messages a part of the show. As everyone expected, there was no shortage of cool group hits like ‘Thunder’, ‘Bone’, ‘Enemy’ and ‘Radioactive’. Surprisingly, the band played the cover of the Alphaville song “Forever Young” to honor all Ukrainians going through a hard time. And so the talented Imagine Dragons concluded their third show at one of the biggest festivals in the country.
Nostalgia with this weasel
It was the moment everyone has been talking about since the reunion was announced, in 2019. “It’s a very special day for Alive. A Portuguese band exhausted a historic moment,” festival director Alvaro Coves said at a press conference, hours before the show. “I’m curious to see Da Weasel, I’ve never seen them perform, but I think it’s all going to break,” admitted Tiago Fernandez, at the start of the day, and the hunch seemed to be correct. “The high point happened from start to finish,” said Tania Nogueira, excited. Now 32 years old, the Porto native grew up listening to Da Weasel songs and tunes. “I have already watched ten concerts of them, however, after so many years, it seems that no time has passed.” On one of the happiest days of her life, she says, Tanya found her teenage band again and hopes she won’t have to wait “another 14 years for it to happen again.”
The magic of Da Weasel is that it hasn’t reached just one generation. Proof of this is that the group, which was formed in 1993 and ended in 2010, is still one of the most popular groups in Portugal. There are those who adore them even though they were only ten years old when it came to an end. Salvador Mera, 28, admitted, “We listened to the band when we were 10, and today’s concert was a re-encounter with those times. I still can’t believe I was able to hear them.” For Anna Faustino, the chilling moment of the night was “when everyone sang the theme of ‘A Capella’ re-processing.” As silence reigned on stage, the chorus of one of the group’s most popular themes was chanted. The Da Weasel giants are much older, but they are no less talented. After many years, they continued to sing “Hannah Accents”, “Casa” and “Aad Advinha Kim” with the same mastery.
The conclusion of the stage was the “Two Door Cinema Club”, which premiered in Portugal the latest album “False Alarm”, and the return of the band to the studios. Not forgetting topics like “what you know” makes everyone happy.
The Heinken stage received acclaimed rock stars Parov, Phoebe Brigders and even Manel Cruz, who performed at the same time as the superstar, Imagine Dragons.
sure return
210,000 people crossed the Paseo Maritimo de Alges pass over the course of four days and on Wednesday did not reach the limit of 55,000 spectators. “Dream” achieved “Best Comeback Ever” and was repeated on July 6, 7 and 8, 2023, in the usual place.
