Concert Review: Tom Zé

Sunday night, I had the opportunity of a lifetime – I got to see Tom Zé live.

For those who are unfamiliar, Tom Zé is one of the founding members of the Tropicália movement in Brazil, and at 71 years old (this October 15), he is still producing amazing, experimental, energetic music like nobody in the world (and that is in no way hyperbolic, either). His 2005 album “Estudando o Pagode,” gained rave reviews in the U.S. and Brazil. Last year, he released “Danç-Êh-Sá,” an album that draws as widely on rock, Brazilian folkloric music from the Northeast, funk, and others. It has no real lyrics, but is instead based simply on various guttural, tribal sounds that Zé and company sing in hypnotic, daring rhythms, driven by the wild music.

The show Sunday night was, upon reflection, quite simply the best show I’ve ever seen. First, it was in a tiny theater (doing a quick scan, I’d say capacity was maximum 175 people). What’s more, the theater was designed for modern plays, and so instead of it being a stage and seats facing the stage, Zé and his band played in the center of the floor, and there were banks of seats on each of the 4 sides of the stage. Because my wife and I got there an hour early, we were first in line, and as the show had no seats reserved, we got the first choice of seats, sitting in the front row, center, of the show. Tom Zé was literally 6-15 feet away from me the whole time (which was, of itself, an amazing experience).

As for the show itself…..nothing matches a Tom Zé show. He came out dressed as a giant record table (complete with a “record needle” on his right arm), jumping up and down immediately and giving crazy introductions to every member of his band. The basic setup of the show was the band would do songs from “Danç-Êh-Sá”, and in between, he would talk about the production of the album. However, it wasn’t so simple, for Zé is one of the most out-there, brilliant minds, so while he never strayed from discussing the creation of the album between songs, he covered topics as diverse as Saturn cutting off Uranus’ penis in mythology; banks privatizing themselves and “opening their legs” to private capital; child prostitution; African contributions to Brazil (including the beauty of the ass and the ways in which Africa gave Brazilians ass); and being scolded for sneezing in public. During the songs, he did things as unique as stick an uninflated balloon up his nose while singing; parade with two other band members around the stage while the three of them did a kazoo solo; and putting inflated balloons in two pockets in his chest to assume the role of a woman on a song.

This may sound like gimmick, but with the experimentalism of the music, and the sheer energy Zé and his band brought to the show, it only heightened everything. And make no mistake – the music was amazing. Zé, at nearly 71 years of age, puts more energy into a show than anybody I’ve ever seen, jumping, running, shaking while he sings. When he sang his song about child prostitituion (“O PIB da PIB” – a play on acronyms, because PIB is the initial for GNP in Portuguese, but he also used it as “Prostituição Infantil Brutal”, or “Brutal Child Prostitution”) and sexual tourism (he gave gringos hell for it), he mocked an orgasm while drawing out the word “globalização” (it literally came out pretty much like “globa-ah-ah-lee—eee-ee-za-ça-ça-ça-çaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”). And the band was a perfect complement to him, feeding off his energy and adding to it. In total, they played all seven songs from “Danç-Êh-Sá”, as well as “Augusta, Angélica e Consolação (from “Todos os Olhos”), and he closed (in encore) with “Parque Industrial” (from the other-worldly 1968 album “Tropicália”).

The show just had everything – intimacy, energy, brilliance, wonderful discourse, innovation, audience participation, showmanship, and amazing music. And afterwords, the ever-humble and ever-grateful Zé promised everyone he would be outside to sign autographs if they wanted (suffice to say, the line was long, but worth the wait). My wife was talking to Zé’s wife, and she said they’ve tried to come to the US for a tour, but Immigration Services (for all their idiocy) will not let him in. Nonetheless, if Tom Zé ever makes it to the US, you should travel whatever distances to see him. It’s worth repeating again – so amazing that it was spiritual, Tom Zé provided the single greatest single show I have ever seen in my life.