The Art Of Accidental Gigs

5 Minute Read

Music

Written by Angie Fay

It starts with a seed. Or, in this case, rather it started with a C-C-Bbbb (this will make sense shortly).

Having been in Lisbon for a couple of months now, enjoying meandering around, a growing obsession for tiles (and pastries, and €3 vinho verde), and just loving the mostly abundant sun – it’s time to step up and back into live music. But whilst it’s plentiful (staying in Alfama, Fado lulls me into a slumber pretty much every single night), I haven’t found it so easy to find out what’s on.

So far, I’ve not come across any sort of master listings site as per London, where everything’s sort of catapulted in your face daily. This is much more of a ‘seek and ye shall find’ affair. And this is how tonight came about, starting from this morning.

A friendly local I follow on TikTok posts a week’s roundup of free things to do in Lisbon. I’m drawn to a free permaculture workshop at the CCB (Centro Cultural de Belém), and heading to the main website, I’m then drawn further into the full CCB calendar – filter music – enter my first image of Portuguese artists The Legendary Tigerman. Topless, cigarette hanging out of his mouth with one eye heavily adorned in dripping mascara; it’s a yes from me. And he’s playing tonight! Performing his seminal album from 2009 Femina. A quick scan shows tracks feature incredible artists such as Peaches, Asia Argentina, and he also supported Jarvis Cocker on his European Tour. Cue pressing play on Spotify and sourcing tickets for the evening. Let’s go.

It’s my first time at the CCB – the interior is astonishing, with wood-panelled walls, luxurious velvet seating, and angular square concrete viewing boxes. It’s a design dream, and just being in it already feels like an invitation to be open to whatever comes. It’s a mix from the memory banks of the Barbican, the Southbank Centre, Berlin’s Funkbhaus, and I want to say Berghain, but can’t quite pinpoint where I’m getting that from exactly. The show starts just after 8pm, and The Legendary Tigerman saunters onto stage with all his icon status and rock swagger, balancing like the beat of a drum. I’m going to set something straight now – I don’t speak Portuguese. At all. That is obviously going to change but right now a lot of the commentary from both him and the other artists he has joining him on stage throughout the evening’s performance is completely lost on me. But honestly, the smooth, gravelly, hushed tones of this man’s voice still send a strong and valid communication that cuts straight to the core. We’re in safe hands, and tonight is going to be good, is what I’m getting.

As the strums strike, the show starts, and the reaction of the crowd is palpable. This is not just the return of a local hero, but a reunion of shared souls that at one time in their lives have been held up by this man’s music. As he cruises through the repertoire of Femina, he’s joined on stage by Phoebe Killdeer, Maria de Medeiros, Rita Red Shoes, Claudia Efe, and her partner, Sara Badal. Helena Coelho also came to the stage to perform Summertime. Hearing Tigerman’s voice in this heavenly acoustic setting, it stands alone. However, whispers of Lou Reed, Bon Iver, Jack White, Jarvis Cocker himself, as well as Nick Cave all breeze through over the course of the evening.

It’s nothing short of captivating.

The crowd, who are invited at the end to come to the front, flock forward en masse, only to be even more in this man’s orbit. This is more than a trip down memory lane for many here tonight. This is a reawakening to the power this album held, and a rebirth of those first seeds that were sewn when it first came out.