Marking her return to Australia with a rockstar performance in Hamer Hall, Portuguese Fado legend Mariza gave audiences every shade of her dazzling personality and roof-raising vocals.
Ahead of the release of her new album, Mariza continues her Australia tour with a showcase of her best-loved songs, as well as some new tunes that haven’t yet been recorded.
Speaking to her immense popularity within Latin America, as well as the sizeable Latin communities here in Melbourne, the crowd was heaving with excited punters, consistently whooping between – and during – Mariza’s frequent addresses to the audience.
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It was the closest I had ever gotten to the experience of being in a Beyoncé show in a concert hall, especially considering my usual visits here are for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Joined onstage by five talented musicians, each on traditional Latin instruments, the players were all lit beneath dramatic spotlights that maintained the flashy drama of a rock concert. The gusto of Mariza’s huge voice, and the dynamic sway of the band, evidently proved too much for many audience members, who sprinkled the hall with camera flashes at regular intervals.
It became so persistent an issue that Mariza herself even addressed it, commenting that the constant motion of hall ushers telling people to put their phones away was such a distraction that she would allow the audience to film her, so long as they turned off the flash.
Mariza held easy, grateful command of her audience. Frequently addressing them in her native Portuguese, there were numerous segments of the show in which she spoke to the audience for nearly as long as she sang.
Many of the songs, she told us, explored themes of love and the importance of that within the modern world. As much as from the lyrics of her songs, the adoration amongst the crowd for this Fado icon was as clear an indication of the power of love as could be imagined.
For more info on Mariza’s upcoming Australia shows, check out her tour dates here
