“Limp Bizkit”, the strange name chosen for the band that marked music at the turn of the century, was today the most heard expression in normally quiet Vilar de Mouros, exactly 23 years after their debut in Portugal.
Launched from the Azenhas de Vilar de Mouros towards the festival site, Tiago Lajas and Luís Loureiro say they are ready to live every day of Vilar de Mouros, which is already on the agenda of the group of friends from Rio Tinto (Gondomar, Porto district).
“We made the mistake of coming yesterday [Tuesday], and a day ahead of time a guy has already burnt half the cartridges,” Luís Loureiro told Lusa.
On the banks of the River Coura, some vacationers still ventured out for a dip in the watercourse that a week earlier hosts the Paredes de Coura festival, but for these friends the neighboring event is “too alternative”.
“Today it’s mainly Limp Bizkit, I speak for myself because it’s the band I grew up with, and Xutos [& Pontapés]. But whatever it was, we were here,” he said.
The friends followed the Chousa Way towards the historic Romanesque bridge of Vilar de Mouros, right next to the festival entrance area, where a queue was forming.
Until the doors opened at around 5.30pm, of the various people approached by Lusa to talk about the opening of the festival, the main reason listed was just one: Limp Bizkit.
Like most people heard by Lusa, João Ferreira and Cátia Branco came looking for “the older, ‘old school’ stuff” from the nu metal band, and as soon as they heard that Limp Bizkit were confirmed in Vilar de Mouros, they “immediately” forgot about the cancellations in 2020, due to the covid-19 pandemic, and last year, due to Fred Durst’s health.
The family made up of Júlio Moreira, Pedro Moreira and Anabela Oliveira is not on vacation and traveled from Braga just today to see Limp Bizkit – “and Xutos!”, exclaims Anabela – but confessed that the announcement of the festival’s line-up in June made their plans difficult.
“I think it was a bit late. Having the festival on these days, during the week, is also a bit complicated, because we’re not on vacation, but it worked out,” said Júlio.
With a French accent, Aurora Telbos responded with a soft “Limp Bizkit” when asked about her main reason for coming to Alto Minho, but assumes that she came “expressly for the festival”, in an “immediate decision” as soon as the poster came out in a place “I didn’t know at all”.
On the other side of the bridge, the turnout was no smaller, especially for access to beer – both classic and craft – so much so that the electrical panel in the very crowded and overheated Café Central couldn’t cope.
“Normally it’s me and one other employee working. Right now there are around 15 people working, so you can see the difference,” said Luísa Gomes, the café’s manager.
On the way back from the town, after most of the festival-goers had joined the queue at the entrance to the iconic Vilar de Mouros bridge, Tiago Lage, wearing a Fred Durst cap, a glass of beer in his hand and a t-shirt from Barracuda – Clube de Roque from Porto, enthusiastically admitted that he was “a nineties guy” and “into nu metal”, showing off his Linkin Park tattoo next to a Pikachu tattoo.
As for Limp Bizkit, he’s seen them six times: “I saw them at Pavilhão Atlântico in 2002, then Rock in Rio once or twice, I saw them twice in Germany, once in Croatia, and now this one,” he said.
At 35, but feeling “24”, Tiago Lage estimated that the campsite “would be fuller”, but he anticipated improvements over the days, not least because “the nu metal guys don’t disappoint”, even though they are no longer “kids”.
Before the start of the festival, Diogo Marques, from the Vilar de Mouros organizers, said that “since 2016 we haven’t seen the start that we’ve seen today, with people wanting to be the first to the front of the stage”.
“Limp Bizkit bring that, they bring the fan who is very much a fan”, who will be able to see the band exactly 23 years after their first performance in Portugal, on August 23, 2000, at the Ermal festival, in Vieira do Minho (Braga district)
According to Diogo Marques, the band itself has marked this date: “they’ve already talked about it, they remember this day”, and it’s “funny” that after the turmoil of the cancellations, on an extra day compared to the usual one in Vilar de Mouros, the 23rd anniversary is being celebrated.
When asked about the late announcement of the line-up, Diogo Marques said that the festival had “a lot more sales than in previous editions”, so this “hasn’t hindered the box office in any way”.
The festival opened with Micomaníacos and The Last Internationale, and continues today with Enter Shikari, Limp Bizkit and Xutos & Pontapés.
Until Saturday, names such as The Prodigy, Pendulum, Within Temptation, Apocalyptica, James, Ornatos Violeta, Guano Apes and Peaches will take to the stage in Caminha.
The country’s first music festival, which even today enjoys the reputation of a “Portuguese Woodstock”, took place in 1971 in Vilar de Mouros, having suffered an eight-year hiatus between 2006 and 2014.
The first edition, in 1971, launched by doctor António Barge, was attended, among others, by Elton John and Manfred Mann.
