Sunny Lisbon

During the 90s, Portugal experienced a growing number of rock festival spread all over the country, most of them happening in remote and peaceful grounds, far away from the big cities. That is the case of festivals like Sudoeste and Paredes de Coura, that take place in, literally, the middle of nowhere, so can enjoy nature, camping and of course, music.

While the number of festivals grew, so did the idea of having rock festivals in urban centers like Lisbon or Oporto. Although there are rock festival in Lisbon every year, seldom are the one’s that seem to last for a great period of years, either by a lack of audience in the summer months, lack of sponsorship or simply a bad choice of the space used for the festival. This last point comes mainly because of a city hall law that prohibits concerts after midnight, as a form of respect to the citizens rest (which is kind of silly if you check the noise on Bairro Alto area at 2am).

So, let’s talk about the three major rock festival take seem to be here to stay :

• Super Bock Super Rock
  Of the three festivals, it is clearly the oldest one, and had in 2008 it’s 13th edition. In all of these years Super Bock Super Rock has taken different shapes and happen in different places. It started at Passeio Maritimo de Algés (where Optimus Alive! now takes place) and has switched between a tipical 3 or 4 days of rock festival in Lisbon to single band concerts in Lisbon, Porto and Vigo (Spain) or, like this last edition, has a two day festival in Oporto and another two day festival in Lisbon. In the last four edition it has always taken place in Parque Tejo, in the northern part of the city, close to Parque das Nações and Vasco da Gama Bridge area (outside of Lisbon area, where the midnight law doesn’t apply). The festival is mainly sponsored by Super Bock, one of the two top selling beers in Portugal. Just as an example, in this year edition, the festival brought to Lisbon metal bands like Iron Maiden or Slayer in one day, and a more pop/rock version on the second day with performers like Beck, Duran Duran, Mika or DJ Tiesto.
• Rock In Rio Lisboa
  Rock in Rio is a franchising business that was exported from Brazil by the original creators of the Rock In Rio festival, that happens from time to time in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It has had it’s third edition this year, and it happens every two years, in Parque Bela Vista, again close to the Parque das Nações area. Rock In Rio it is not just a festival : it’s a well oiled marketing machine, that brings along big sponsors and lot’s of money, presenting the most mainstream and generally accepted bands. It is presented and recognized by it’s audience has a “family festival”, as it offers much more than rock music and beer. The place it self is a nice green park, with some hills that help to create the ideia of a large natural amphiteather. This year edition had shows by Alanis Morissette, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Rod Stewart, Amy Winehouse, Lenny Kravitz or Muse. More relevant that the bands are the audience numbers, with two of the days bringing more that 90.000 people to the Bela Vista park.
• Optimus Alive!
  It is the youngest of the three festivals, but even in it’s first edition (that happend last year, this year was only it’s second edition) has shown a set of bands and and dragged so many sponsorship that made it a sure bet to keep on happening in the years to come. The festival takes place in the Passeio Maritimo de Algés (again outside Lisbon city limit), just right by the Tagus river mouth to the Atlantic Ocean. The organization has made on this two editions a great effort to have one of the best european rock festivals, investing in capturing interess even in spectators from abroad. In 2008, the festival has brought bands like Rage Against The Machine, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Ben Harper or The National.