The day was long, many bands had already played and the mood was settled. Scenario Plaza is known for being quite daunting due its large size, in which several thousands of people do not make it look full. Also, it is known that the closure of Festival Rock al Parque takes place at this scenario making a lot of people gathered with anticipation to get a better spot, making the situation critical for the act that precedes the main event.
In previous years, it was the case that international bands, or very well-known national act willing to take the challenge of making people interested and in good spirit for the band to come. In very few occasions, there was the occasional band that played the role, most of the times not with success. This year, Perpetual Warfare was the chosen one to take one of the greatest challenges of all, to serve as an opening act for Sepultura.
Perpetual Warfare is a band acquainted by many as they have participated in different festivals, small gigs and bar gigs. During these presentations, they have gathered fans by their perseverance and total dedication to live performances in both small and large stages. But Scenario Plaza, on a Saturday night in the heaviest of the rock days, the mere thought of playing there can be frightening. But this band rose to the occasion to deliver one of the best presentations of a local band I have seen in many years.
After that, the band teased the audience with the first riffs of a Sepultura song, making sure that those who were waiting for this band to play kept the spirit high. But that riff served as a prelude for one the songs Perpetual Warfare have played for years ‘Muerto en El Pogo.’ During this song, the moods were high, proper to create a wall of death. You may think that after a long day, most people would be tired and not willing, but this song, in particular, rose the bar to all at scenario plaza, creating one of the biggest walls of death I have ever seen. It went all the way from top to bottom of Plaza and by command of Camilo, everything carried on as planned. All hell broke loose.
I was not able to witness the first two songs as I was commuting from the beginning of Decapitated presentation. Once again, omnipresence was not part of my abilities. However, I was able to witness at least 30 minutes of their 40 minutes schedule presentation and I was amazed by seeing that those who were at this show were enjoying it completely. Several mosh pits from top to bottom and a massive wall of death were good indicators.
Perpetual Warfare played songs from both of their full length albums ‘Justicia, Libertad y Decadencia’ (2010) and ‘Age of War’ (2013) where they show the evolution of the band as whole switching songs from Spanish into English but keep the speed spirit, typical of a thrash band that wants to take the world by assault. From the songs I had the fortune to hear, I could tell there was a long distance from the band I have seen a couple of times and made not an enduring impression to the band that was performing that Saturday night.
One of said songs is ‘Cleptocracia,’ a song that not many knew the lyrics, but many responded by being active in the mosh pit. A song that reflects many of our thought regarding the current state of “democracy” this society is living, it resonated in the minds of the attendants. Plus, all four members of the band were moving around a huge state, following the steps of Anthrax.
By the time the song ended, unlike other bands consumed by the silence between songs, vocalist and guitarist Camilo Andres Muñoz took the microphone and kept people engaged. You can say, they kept people’s attention. Following this interaction, it was time for ‘Borrego de Dios’ to be played. Speed was the key element of this song, which is a single recently released. As other songs of the setlist, this one was also well received by the general public.
The next song I heard was ‘No Queremos Ser Otro Cadáver Más,’ whom they introduced the chorus so people could sing along. In the middle of this song, the mascot of the band made an appearance. A subtle but good interaction between the band and the mascot made me see that Perpetual Warfare made the effort to think about their audience and the kind of impact they wanted to make.
After that, the band teased the audience with the first riffs of a Sepultura song, making sure that those who were waiting for this band to play kept the spirit high. But that riff served as a prelude for one the songs Perpetual Warfare have played for years ‘Muerto en El Pogo.’ During this song, the moods were high, proper to create a wall of death. You may think that after a long day, most people would be tired and not willing, but this song, in particular, rose the bar to all at scenario plaza, creating one of the biggest walls of death I have ever seen. It went all the way from top to bottom of Plaza and by command of Camilo, everything carried on as planned. All hell broke loose.
And so, the presentation was over, leaving attendant fully energised for what was coming next. As for Perpetual Warfare, they left their lives on that stage, on that window of opportunity to get known by other people, showing that even so the thematic on their lyrics is somewhat serious, the way music can be fun and energetic. What will come for this band in the future? That is something that only time will tell, but I hope the boost they got from their presentation this year at Festival Rock al Parque takes them far.
