Sepultura Play Final Show At Massively Downgraded Venue
The post Sepultura Play Final Show At Massively Downgraded Venue appeared first on Stereogum .
Sepultura's farewell show didn't happen the way that the Brazilian metal titans envisioned it. The band originally planned to play their final show at São Paulo's Pacaembu Stadium, an important venue for the band. But when the show happened on Saturday night, they had to move it to the same city's Suhai Music Hall, a much smaller venue.
Some context is necessarily here. Sepultura are one of the greatest and most important metal bands in history, and their classics from the '80s and '90s remain influential today. In Brazil, they're national heroes. They're certainly the biggest international rock band ever to come from Brazil. Part of the reason that they wanted to play at Pacaembu Stadium in the first place was the iconic 1991 show where the band played to tens of thousands of Brazilian fans in Praça Charles Miller, just outside the stadium.
As huge as Sepultura were in Brazil, though, the current version of the band is a distant echo of what it once was. Founding frontman Max Cavalera left Sepultura in 1996, and his drummer brother Iggor quit the band in 2006. The Cavalera brothers feuded with each other for many years, but they have since made up, and they play together in the Cavalera Conspiracy now.
American replacement frontman Derrick Green has technically been in Sepultura for longer than Max Cavalera ever was, but he never had a chance to become their definitive leader. (Also, Eloy Casagrande, Sepultura's drummer since 2011, left as part of the great drummer shuffle of 2024 , with former Suicidal Tendencies member Greyson Nekrutman replacing him.)
Sepultura announced their global farewell tour in 2023, and they planned for their final show to be a grand sendoff, a celebration of the band's history, but it couldn't really be that without the Cavalera brothers' participation. Earlier this year, guitarist Andreas Kisser, one of only two classic-era Sepultura members, admitted that the Cavalera brothers had turned down an invitation to rejoin the band that they started. As Guitar World reports , Kisser told Metal Hammer , “We did invite the Cavalera brothers. I spoke to Iggor personally on a phone call a few months ago, and we started some communication. Even our managers went to talk to their management and stuff. But they don’t want to be a part of it, and that’s OK. It’s a choice."
Without the Cavalera brothers along, Sepultura's final show simply was not going to be that special of an event. In September, Blabbermouth reported that the gig had been moved from Pacaembu Stadium, which has a capacity of 26,000, to the 9,000-cap Suhai Music Hall. The three announced openers, Brazilian death metalers Krisiun, Phoenix thrash pioneers Sacred Reich, and supergroup Metal Allegiance, still opened the show.
Sepultura's final show wasn't the bast spectacle that the band clearly wanted, but it still looks pretty impressive on camera. As Loudwire reports , the band played a career-spanning 32-song set that featured a bunch of live rarities and appearances from members of bands like Krisiun, Chained Saint, Eminence, Torture Squad, and Ratos de Porão. Jairo Guedz, Sepultura's guitarist in their early years, rejoined the band for a few songs at the end. Even in a smaller room, the classics got thunderous fan reactions. Check out some videos below.
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