On June 13, St. Anthony's Day, in the midst of the Santos Populares celebrations, the celebrated hard rock band Winger landed in Portugal for the first time.
Yellow Dog Conspiracy
In charge of warming up the engines for Winger, the Lisbon band Yellow Dog Conspiracy did their job with flying colors, starting with the brutal intensity of lead singer Vice, who kept the audience's attention throughout the concert, accompanied by the fabulous musicians who, by the way, put on a show of their own, the quality of Luiz Arantes with his impressive solos and riffs captivated any hard rock fan who arrived early.
Songs such as Hello My Friend, Cocaine to the Vein, Somebody Else and the most recent single Dumb And Blind drew applause and support from the vast majority who had already settled into the LAV and handed it over on a plate to Winger.
Winger
With little or no delay, the American band led by bassist and vocalist Kip Winger took to the LAV stage at 9:50 p.m., accompanied by guitarist Reb Beach, drummer Ron Morgenstein, keyboardist Paul Taylor and, in place of John Roth, Simon Howie on guitar. Opening with "Stick The Knife In And Twist", a song from their most recent album Seven, released in 2023, the quintet soon followed up with true classics such as "Seventeen" and "Can't Get Enuff", which rang a bell with a crowd that should have been larger on the Lisbon holiday.
The charisma and rapport on stage left the impression that we were in front of a band that was accomplished, at ease and having fun above all else. All the while, the musicians interacted with each other, making inside jokes and drawing smiles from each other. Meanwhile, hits like "Hungry" and the ballad "Miles Away" were sung at the top of their lungs by the audience.
When Reb Beach stood alone on stage for his solo thousands of cell phones were automatically catapulted into the air to record one of the great moments of the concert, impressive the technical ability and agility still present in the 60-year-old guitarist, in fact the whole band is on a razor's edge, playing and singing because Kip Winger's voice is very good (although a little tired), as well as that of all the musicians in the backing vocals, better than many big hard rock bands out there, see Mr. Axl and Mr. Paul Stanley.
With the game already won, the band played "Easy Come Easy Go" and "Madaleine" to prove that Winger's debut wasn't just a friendly, it was a tough, intense game that they won by a landslide, and that it won't take them another eternity to show up in Portugal.
Photos by Vitor Lage
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