Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil paid tribute to Gal Costa, who died last year, this Saturday (28th) during the Salvador Summer Festival. The duo sang “Divino, Maravilhoso” in the middle of Gil’s presentation, who welcomed his partner to his show at the event.
“We composed this song to be sung by Gal Costa,” said Caetano, who opened the shirt he was wearing to reveal another with the singer’s name on it. “And we will sing in honor of their greatness that never ends.”
Gil also said that before the performance, the friend “is a memory that doesn’t leave us.” The song, one of the trio’s tropical classics, was sung along at the top of its lungs by the audience, which was packed with people singing.
The duo was clearly emotional, and Gil even made a mistake in his entry in the second verse, which he corrected shortly thereafter. The audience screamed Gal Costa’s name after the performance.
Already in high spirits, the audience exploded on the next track, “Odara,” with people climbing onto others’ shoulders and raising their hands in cheers—atmosphere sustained in “Tieta,” played in the sequence, in a sort of apotheosis . It was the highlight of the most famous show of the first day of the summer festival.
Gil had previously got Bahians singing with his usual repertoire of hits. He pulled off Tempo Rei, Esotérico, Palco and Back in Bahia with a band full of family members he took on tour.
As one of reggae’s ambassadors in Brazil, Gil also sang “A Novidade” and “Vamos Fugir”, both heavily influenced by Jamaican music. Rhythm songs, which have a special appeal in Bahia, Brazil, proved popular with audiences at the summer festival.
Gil relaxed when he encountered technical problems during his presentation. Before him, the singer Larissa Luz, who was on stage with Minister of Culture Margareth Menezes, had interrupted the show due to technical problems.
“The guitar took a little break,” Gil said. “These things, the energies flowing through the wires… Sometimes the wires don’t get there, right?” As the adjustments were made, the audience began to praise the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
“It is already here. He [Lula] he’s here,” Gil replied. “I hope he can work, I hope they let him work. I hope the Brazilian people understand the interesting fact that he is replacing a group that was there and didn’t exactly do the job,” he also said, referring to former President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) management.
Gil performed the beginning of Bahia de São Salvador by Bahian singer Dorival Caymmi before asking his “brother Caetano” to sing with him. “Gilberto Gil, mysterious and wonderful,” his friend replied.
With Caetano on stage they even played “Sem Samba Não Dá”, track from the album “Meu Coco” released two years ago and already on the lips of the audience before the tribute to Gal Costa.
The show ended with “Toda Menina Baiana” sung to the screams, so loud it was difficult to hear who was on stage. The audience jumped in sync with soccer fans while Caetano danced and propelled himself as if he were in the audience.
The duo, two oracles of Bahian and Brazilian music, left the stage shouting “one more” which went unanswered given the festival’s limited time.