Some rock bands are able to live a long life. Os Paralamas de Sucesso (1981) and Barão Vermelho (1981) are among those rock monuments in Brazil. But as for Barão Vermelho, that maybe won't last for much longer…

Named after a character from the comic cartoon Peanuts, Barão Vermelho (Red Baron) has quite an impressive history. The band reached its peak when the legendary vocalist, the late Cazuza (1958-1990) joined forces in 1982. Together with the band's guitarist, Roberto Frejat, he wrote numerous of ever lasting rock songs. In 1985 Cazuza left the band in pursuit of a more satisfying solo career (for him). Frejat successfully took over the role as lead vocalist. A few years later, in 1988, another change in the line-up fixed the sound of this band as we know it today. Second guitarist Fernando Magalhães and percussionist Paulo Pizziali (Peninha) were important additions to the identity of the band. Especially the impressive percussion skills of Peninha gave the band more originality. He forms a perfect tandem with drummer Augusto Goffi. The other band members are bassist Rodrigo Santos and guest keyboardist Humberto  Barros, who was one of the original band members.

On this double album, recorded live at the Circo Voador in Rio de Janeiro (August 2005), we hear most of Barão Vermelho's greatest hits. The band is in good shape and delivers a strong performance of the familiar repertoire. Frejat, who suffered serious voice problems, proves to be back to his usual vocal standard. Peninha shines again, completely devoted to his job as percussionist. Whether he holds the tambourine, the triangle, the shaker or whatever, it's all done with striking efficiency. The recording is, of course, perfect. The most emotional moment comes with a duet that Frejat sings with a tape with the voice of Cazuza.  The sentimentally loaded "Codinome Beija-Flor" sounds even more dramatic this way. Video images of Cazuza are shown on a big screen, as the dvd watchers can witness. The audience responds by chanting the late singer/writer's name. It's probably the only advantage for the dvd buyers, since, strangely enough, this double cd has more music than the dvd, a difference of six songs. The rest of the repertoire is performed in a fresh but powerful way, demonstrating why this band survived for almost 25 years already. There's one never before released song, "Nosso Mundo." The song is written by drummer Guto Goffi and keyboardist Maurício Barros.

What we have is a good document and maybe even a historical document for this band. This could well be the last Barão Vermelho album… The band announced a break up after the tour that supports this MTV Ao Vivo cd set.

K.S.