Tropicalia Legends Os Mutantes Do the Evolution at Pop Montreal

Posted on Oct 4th 2009 5:00PM by Jonathan Dekel
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Os Mutantes more than lived up to their name on the fourth day of Pop Montreal which saw the Brazilian psychedlic rockers mutating through a myriad of styles during their nearly two-hour, career-spanning set.

Sliding effortlessly from harmonized folk to pop, prog, samba, salsa
and Beatlesesque rock -- even teasing the crowd with a few licks from 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' during a spirited solo -- the tropicalia legends put on a musical
clinic as led by original member Sergio Dias, whose guitar heroics highlighted the versatile band's creative output since their heydays in the '60s and '70s.

Though cheered on by a large Brazilian contingent, the 57-year-old Dias -- decked out in a long black robe with gold fringe -- spoke mostly in French and even managed to sing French hymn 'Le Premier Bonheur du Jour' from the band's eponymous 1968 album to the great delight of the Quebecois in the audience.

But the evening was far from an exercise in nostalgia with new songs such as 'Querida Querida' showcasing Dias' formidable guitar chops that, at times, recalled both the feedback squall of Jimi Hendrix and the tempered Latin-flavour of Gilberto Gil.

As evidenced by the success of modern genre-bending artists such as Patrick Watson -- who took in the show with his bassist Mishka Stein -- Os Mutantes' music still manages to inspire. So as long as Dias continues to capture the zeitgeist by evolving his musical tastes, Os Mutantes will remain relevant for decades to come.