Seventeen years ago, on November 29, 2008, the CD and DVD ‘Ao Vivo no Pavilhão Atlântico’ (Live at Pavilhão Atlântico) was released in stores. It was the recording of a historic concert that brought 15,000 people to the country’s largest stage and marked the beginning of a hiatus in Da Weasel’s career.
Recorded on November 10, 2007, the show was the first time Da Weasel headlined the Pavilhão Atlântico—today the MEO Arena—for a sold-out concert that celebrated the band’s peak and the impact of the album Amor, Escárnio e Maldizer (Love, Scorn and Malice).
The show was divided into three acts and covered different phases of the band from Almada’s career: from songs chosen by the audience, to the intimate orchestral section, to the presentation of tracks from their most recent album. The concert also featured a line-up of esteemed guests, including Manel Cruz, Bernardo Sassetti, Atiba, Gato Fedorento, and conductor Rui Massena with the Orquestra dos Sonhos (Orchestra of Dreams)—reinforcing the collaborative nature that defined Da Weasel. “We’ve never done anything but look for people with unexpected visions or different backgrounds who could enrich our records,” said João Nobre at the time.
Directed by José Pinheiro, the DVD captured the performance “in 360 degrees,” making use of the original stage set design and the W-shaped catwalk that extended into the audience. The recording quickly became a commercial success: one week after hitting stores, it already occupied the number one spot on the national sales chart.
Described as a “second act” after their consecration at the Atlântico, ‘Ao Vivo no Pavilhão Atlântico’ also arrived at a turning point: shortly after, Da Weasel would announce a break from activity in 2009. The concert, now iconic, remains one of the most emblematic performances in modern Portuguese music—a night when Almada took the country’s biggest stage by storm and wrote, in a giant W, a definitive chapter of its history.
