“Where is the jazz concert?” was the question that Jorge asked most frequently on the perfectly imperfect day in May. He had proposed a light dinner out and a concert in Faro and we say yes to almost any outing with him if we are free. Our time together always consist of speaking Portuguese, a Portuguese history lesson or two, and sage advice on cities, venues, and restaurants. We have already been to festivals, cultural events, concerts, and shared quite a few meals together.

Jorge mentioned 3 different options for music: Two Step Flow a bass and drum duo, Rão Kyao a flautist and saxophonist who blends fado with Indian music (he was playing in a duo with Zé Eduardo a double bass jazz musician), and The Dead Men Shoes a blues rock band. We enjoy most concerts, especially since there are scads of music in our new country to discover, so we left the decision to him. Not only do we trust him to make great choices, we also have a confession. Sometimes finding specifics about cultural events is a real hassle. We are fully aware this might be an us problem. We just haven’t quite solved whether we are looking in the wrong places, if our interpretation of written Portuguese is leading us astray, or if Portugal has a different relationship to the internet than we are used to. We are able to find information about some festivals, cultural events, and music, but fail to consistently finding thorough details.

Through a combination of online ticketing hurdles and an extremely busy workload near the end of the school year, Jorge wasn’t able to purchase tickets in advance. This wasn’t a concern for us since we can generally get them at the door. While driving, he explained that Faro was hosting Jazz days, and that a multitude of concerts were being organized through Teatro das Figuras which is a formal concert space. Although Andrew had previously attended a concert in Faro at the Associação Recreative e Cultural de Músicos (ARCM) with Jorge, neither of us had been to Teatro das Figuras.

We enjoyed engaging conversation over wine (for me) and beer (for the gentlemen) at Tertúlia Algarvia while waiting for our petiscos (snacks or tapas). Jorge prefers tapas at the neighboring restaurant Old Tavern, but they were extremely busy. I haven’t been there, so I can’t vouch for their food, but they were playing pretty awesome 80’s and 90’s music which we were close enough to enjoy. Our food arrived and the best dish by far was a sauteed mushroom dish served with carob bread; it showcased simple ingredients and had through the roof levels of umami – really darn good. The climate was temperate, the sky was clear and blue, birds were gliding through the air, it was pretty much idyllic.

After dinner we wandered the historic streets of Faro and nightlife was in full swing. There was music emanating from different parts of the city. People young, old, and everyone in between were out and about. We squeezed in our history lesson as we found the city’s azulejo (tile) artwork that recounts the conquest of Faro, which was the last Moorish stronghold in the Algarve, by King Afonso III back in 1249. We spoke about how wars frequently arise from religious differences which is the opposite of how we think it should be.

We walked by the ARCM at 9:25 pm to see what was happening there, but the doors were closed. An employee who was using a card to gain electronic entry mentioned something about the doors being closed until 9:30 pm. Jorge had decided on Two Step Flow, but they were playing at Teatro das Figuras across town at 10:00 pm so we would have to drive there. As we arrived at our new destination’s parking lot, most cars were leaving. Maybe we had the wrong start time?

I waited outside while Andrew and Jorge spoke to staff. Employees explained that the concert was promoted and advertised by the Teatro das Figuras but wasn’t actually performed there, there was a bit of back and forth about the lack of clarity – highlighted by an electronic advertisement flashing directly in front of everyone which was as clear as mud. None of the notices clearly stated where the concert was being held. Upon exiting, they explained the concert was actually taking place at ARCM. We had to return from whence we came, back across town that is.

Since we were now a bit late there was some minor grumbling from the elder statesman of our group about the employee with the electronic card at ARCM not explaining in greater detail what was happening. In all fairness we didn’t ask a lot of questions when we were there earlier. The entire scenario actually made 2 of us feel quite a bit better about our past difficulties related to locating accurate information about cultural activities (“it may not be ALL our fault!”). During the short drive we noted how many business signs are in English in Faro, seemingly way more than on signage in Olhão.

Back at ARCM the doors were open, but there wasn’t any live music. Jorge asked a young female employee where the jazz concert was and she gave him a look of confusion and maybe a bit of disdain (or maybe just coincidentally vomited in her mouth a little at that precise moment?). She advised “the ONLY concerts showing tonight are a heavy rock band and a blues band after that. There is NO jazz happening.” Jorge showed the concert notice on his phone to the woman and she advised “ if you want jazz there is an Indian flautist playing at República 14 in Olhão tonight.” How hilarious is this? We could have stayed in our hometown for Rão Kyao and Zé Eduardo. The employee continued on…”that same flautist will be at ARCM tomorrow, but there is NO jazz tonight”. I guess at this point we all realized there were concerts organized by Teatro das Figuras that were not part of the current jazz days lineup. I was highly amused by the lively conversation between our good friend and this passionate employee. While a bit miffed about the lack of jazz and all of the confusion, Jorge enjoyed the feisty repartee too. He would chuckle and repeat specific parts of the mega rock fan’s dialogue all night especially “super-rock, metal” and “JAZZ Não”. This still has me giggling.

We decided to have a beer and wait for the SUPER ROCK concert, after all, we had come for some form of music and the ARCM is a pretty cool venue. There is an open air courtyard with tables and a bar. The walls have street art style portraits of famous musicians painted on the walls. There were people from all walks of life, and even a couple of dogs hanging out. If we lived in Faro we would frequently attend concerts there. One challenge of not having a car is working within the constraints of public transportation. The last train from Faro to Olhão leaves before 10:30 pm and wouldn’t be an option on a late night like this one.

Tickets were €4 per person and eventually a pair of doors opened off of the courtyard and we filed in. We walked into a rectangular shaped room, with a stage at one end, a couple of tables, and another bar. Parts of the ancient, rugged stone walls sparkled when the lights struck them. There were a maximum of 25 people there and some casually wandered in and out. We bought another round and eventually 2 men came out on stage.

I have a varied taste in music and am not a novice to hard rock. I have listened to my fair share of AC/DC, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, and Kiss. I never really got into Metalcore, but I felt fairly prepared to experience a band described as “Jungle Rock” (although I am still unsure about this particular categorization). Pretty much I was ready to rock.

The music began and the primary problem was the decibel level for the space and the lack of bodies inside the space. I don’t think the volume level was offensive just because we had been in a “jazz state of mind”. We had to communicate by typing on our phones because there was no possible way we could hear each other. Jorge fashioned emergency earplugs with tissue and said that it was an improvement at least for the physical pain part.

The members of Two Step Flow are Brazilian, but the band is based in Portugal. The vocalist/guitarist sings in English, speaks Portuguese between songs, and the other member of the band is a drummer. The drummer was fantastic, the guitar was passable, but the vocals were a real disappointment. Sometimes they just weren’t nice to listen to and sometimes they were misaligned with the music, sounding like a boy band paired with hard rock. I was unable to comprehend 90% of the lyrics, I’m not sure if this was due to enunciation or sound issues. I did understand most of the singer’s Portuguese between songs.

The most adorable thing from my American perspective was the interaction between the music on offer and the crowd. In the US the crowd would be head banging, giving themselves self induced whiplash, jumping around with hands raised high, and forming a mosh pit if there were enough rock enthusiasts present. The Portuguese crowd lightly nodded their heads to the music, there might have been one person noticeably moving their leg. If this was a video of spectators without audio, one might have thought they actually were listening to jazz. I genuinely love that Portuguese are so mellow and peaceful.

The concert was scheduled to last 45 minutes, according to the now highly suspect online notice. We almost made it through, but when Jorge’s watch started flashing alerts for his personal health and safety due to volume, we threw in the towel and left a bit early.

As we drove back to Olhão Jorge couldn’t help but critique the band harshly: “nobody liked it, everyone was leaving, sorry but that voice was horrible”. We discussed how we were all looking forward to the international music of Festival Med 2024 in June and I joked that if Two Step Flow was there, everyone in every venue on site would be able to hear them. We laughed hysterically about our misadventure and promised to attend better concerts. Maybe we really will find that elusive jazz next time. Even if we don’t, I am certain we will still have an excellent time because it was never just about the music and one bad concert doesn’t change the soundtrack of your life.