During the mid-set interview of Tagua Tagua’s Studio Milwaukee Session, Dori Zori asked frontman Felipe Puperi whether the band’s latest album RAIO had a particular theme or was riding more of a vibe.
“I wanted to bring these disco vibes a little bit, more like dancing for this album. I’ve never done it before,” he explained. “We have some stuff that is super energetic, more rock and psychedelic stuff sometimes, and a lot of Brazilian percussion. But never this way — more disco, more club.”
Of course, having already heard Tagua Tagua play RAIO’s title track (and “4AM” from previous album Inteiro Metade), Puperi wasn’t saying anything we didn’t already know. A few bars into the performance, everyone in the room — including our normally stoic audio engineer Lodi — was chair-dancing along with the irresistible soundwaves rolling out of the amps.
Hailing from São Paulo, Brazil, Puperi and his bandmates had come a long way to play for our Radio Milwaukee members, making a special stop for this session on their way to opening for White Denim in Madison later the same day. And “special” is exactly what it ended up being.
It only took a few seconds into Dori’s introduction to know this was going to be good, with the audience spontaneously breaking into applause in anticipation. “RAIO” set a midtempo groove that “4AM” was happy to accelerate, as Puperi sang in his native Portuguese.
We got even more of a language lesson in the first question of his interview, which taught us how to ask for an encore: mais um. It came in handy when the broadcast portion of the performance ended and the band lingered on stage long enough for Dori to ask everyone if they wanted to hear one more. The immediate reply:
Mais um.
Studio MKE: Tagua Tagua set list
- "RAIO"
- "4AM"
- "Química"
- "Inteiro Metade" (non-broadcast performance)
