The Gilsons have won the hearts of Montrealers

Before the Gilsons trio, who are famous in Brazil, take the stage, their percussionist Ricardo Guerra and trumpeter Osiel Junior first settle in before welcoming José, João and Francisco Gil, to the applause of a mostly Brazilian audience. All dressed in blue and white for the occasion, the three descendants of Gilberto Gil have an undeniable complicity on stage, which makes for a pleasant atmosphere from the outset.

They start the show with Pra gente acordar, featured on the album of the same name, released in 2022. At center stage, Francisco sings most of the songs, with José and João, sometimes on backing vocals, sometimes just on guitar and/or bass. It’s fascinating to see them swapping guitars throughout the show, a veritable musical chair, but with guitars. They continue with Algum ritmo, a collaboration with Jovem Dionisio.

In fact, they’re not all sons of Gilberto Gil, as I thought, but only José is the son, while João and Francisco are grandsons of the great Brazilian icon. “We’re happy to be here, for the first time in Canada,” José shares, before continuing with Vento Alecrim, from the 2018 album Varias Queixas. This opus fuses several styles such as samba, rap, funk, afoxé mixed with electronics.

For the track Vem de là, José takes the lead this time and the other two sing backing vocals, while encouraging the audience to sing along to Devagarinho, on which they collaborated with Mariana Volker. The three artists’ complicity is palpable throughout the concert. They teased each other, sometimes laughing in each other’s ears, and cracking jokes at every turn.

Another track the crowd seemed to enjoy was India, a collaboration with Julia Mestre. It’s João’s turn to repeat several times that they’re happy to be in Canada, that they never imagined their music would have brought them here, followed by a round of applause.

When they play the first notes of Swing de Campo Grande, the crowd starts screaming and bobbing to the beat. The same goes for Love, Love, on which they get the audience singing lalalala over a trumpet that’s delicious to the ear.

They alternate between the two albums, with A voz, or Proposta, which features some jaw-dropping solos by João. They couldn’t close the show without singing Varias queixas, the hit that put this trio on the map, as they say.

The encore came very quickly, with the audience shouting “Eu não vou embora” or “I am not going away” from the foot-tapping crowd, shaking the floor of the National. So they return to share Um so, Duas cidades and Voltar na Bahia, incorporating José’s cavaquinho, who also has fun on percussion at times, leaving the other two to dialogue with their guitar. They go on to cover a few samba classics, such as Dona Ivone Lara’s Alguém me aviso, much to the delight of the audience, who seem to appreciate the long encore. My personal favorite is João, whose voice most closely resembles that of Gilberto Gil, and who seems to be the trio’s rebel. And we all love a rebel, don’t we?

The opening act was Toronto-based Brazilian singer JØY Brandt, who shared several of her original compositions with the audience, such as her most recent track Vem. She also delighted the audience with a cover of the Edson Gomes classic Árvore, which she revisited with her own touch. She was accompanied for the occasion by musicians all originally from Bahia: percussionist and drummer The Real WheresBaiano, Bernardo on guitar and Luciano Vila Nova on bass. Of course, none of this would have been possible without Showzaço, and in particular Ulysses de Paula, who has been bringing high-calibre artists to Montreal for several years now. Between Emicida, Zeca Pagodinho, Nando Reis and soon Jorge Aragão in August, he no longer needs to prove himself. This visionary has become a key player in the Brazilian art scene in Canada.