Any time a living legend goes on tour there's always a looming possibility it could be his/her last. So when Brazilian icon Gilberto Gil included my city on his 2007 itinerary I wasted no time in getting tickets. To this day it's been one of the most memorable concerts I've ever been to. Watching Gil take the stage solo, sitting on a chair under the spotlight, and reaching for the propped-up acoustic guitar as he prepared to strum the first notes made my heart skip a beat. It was a historical moment -- for me anyway. His barebones performance was raw and riveting and I thought hypothetically 'what a dignified way to end a musical career that's spanned more than 40 years.'
Luckily the Tropicalia pioneer turned Brazilian minister of culture is launching another U.S. tour beginning June 18 and lasting throughout July. Named the Broadband Tour, this summer's eleven-city run will be in stark contrast to last year's stripped-down performances. Gil turns his one-man, visceral communion with the audience into an interactive experience supported by a full-band. In keeping with the digital revolution, and his own fascination with technology -- a theme he frequently explores in his music-- the Grammy Award-winner is encouraging concert goers to record the gig on their digi cams and cell phones. Eventually a resulting pastiche of shows, will be cut and pasted along with additional backstage and on the road footage, all to be disseminated on the net. Refraction and multiplication of sound and image replace introspection and the single figure of an artist baring his soul. And here I thought Gil was on the road to retirement.
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