Two days after playing what will probably be his last big show in Bahia — in front of around 45 thousand people who went to the Arena Fonte Nova, in Salvador, as part of the “Tempo Rei” tour —, Gilberto Gil took the stage at the Teatro Gamboa, also in the capital of Bahia, on Monday evening (22), for an intimate show, with only 60 guests in the audience.
“The Teatro Gamboa, 51 years old. Many services rendered to the cultural life of Bahia, to the culture of Bahia. As a small entity, of limited size, it always has more difficulties than the big theaters, the big stadiums, the big places where sponsorships are more generous,” Gil said during the presentation, broadcast live on TVE Bahia and TV Brasil.
With the support of the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, the show was part of the “Fica, Gamboa” campaign. Thanks to collective financing, the Associação Teatro Gamboa —made up of artists, producers and cultural technicians—, which has managed the theater since 2007 but does not own the space, is trying to raise R$500,000 to buy the property and carry out renovations on the site.
“This natural logic of the market, which is very important, favors many things, but it also creates difficulties for the smallest, those who have an extraordinary role of resistance and creativity too, they are inventive, they offer opportunities to new people,” Gil said in the small welcoming space.
The show was opened by his grandchildren Bento Gil and Flor Gil. On stage, alone with his guitar, for about an hour, Gil took the opportunity to play and sing a repertoire different from that which fills stadiums across Brazil.
“Ladeira da Preguiça is here, right next door,” Gil said before playing “Ladeira da Preguiça,” his composition recorded by Elis Regina. Other new releases were “Soy Loco por Ti, América”, “O Rouxinol/Nightingale”, “Maracatu Atomic”, “Chiclete com Banana”, “Prece” and “É Luxo Só”.
Opened in 1974 by actor Eduardo Cabús, Teatro Gamboa was eventually purchased by actor Perry Salles, who died in 2009. Currently, the theater is owned by the artist’s family, who decided to put the property up for sale, but gave priority of purchase to the Associação Teatro Gamboa.
“It’s a very friendly negotiation with the family,” said manager Maurício Assunção.
The monthly costs of the theater are covered by a state notice for the maintenance of cultural spaces. Thus, Gamboa welcomes artists without charging for an agenda, also offering press assistance, digital materials and all ticketing fees for artists. The theater generally offers 240 performances per year.
The idea of calling Gil to the countryside was Assunção’s. Gil and his band have already used Gamboa as a rehearsal space, thanks to one of his musical partners, Italian Aldo Brizzi, who lives above the theater. This Monday, his house served as Gil’s dressing room.
“A greeting: good evening to all of you, my people, the people of the house, the friends, my colleague ‘Tuzeas’ de Abreu, Tuzé de Abreu, whom I have seen several times. One of them here, on this stage, I will never forget”, said Gil.
THE Leaf, Flutist and composer Tuzé de Abreu recalled the show Gil mentioned, organized in 2014. “It was the show ‘Novas Aventuras no País do Som,’ which took place there in Gamboa. And that show was very important because we won the Caymmi trophy for the best show of the year and the best staging,” he said.
“Gil looked at it. It was him, Caetano Veloso, Regina Casé, Moreno Veloso. It was wonderful, a show with an experimental accent,” says Tuzé, who has just published a memoir.
“I really like Gamboa. There is something spectacular that I have only seen in Florida, in a place where I played. It is that, in certain circumstances, depending on the time of day, a curtain is opened at the back of the stage and the view of the Baía de Todos-os-Santos becomes the stage”, says the flautist.
Another of the lucky 60 in Gamboa’s audience was actor Wagner Moura, who was also present at the Fonte Nova show two days earlier. There, in the public buzz, Gil was expected to make some sort of farewell, which didn’t happen.
At one point, the audience sang “Gil, I love you”, which spread throughout the stadium. “It’s mutual! I love you all. My love for you all, during all these years, I will carry it until the end of my life. And if there is a life after, I will also continue to love you, wherever I am,” declared the singer.
In Gamboa he performed songs from the tour, such as “Tempo Rei”, “Drão”, “Estrela”, “Se Eu Quiser Falar com Deus”, “Andar com Fé” and “Toda Menina Baiana”, but in voice and guitar version, signaling what his future performances could be, showing that he is still in great form on the instrument.
“The Teatro Gamboa is grateful for this involvement, for this mobilization that we are all doing so that it is possible to maintain it for another 51 years, if that is the case,” said the singer with a smile who, after the show, left the stage and walked towards the audience to greet the audience.
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