A visit to this pop-up store at LX Factory is a veritable journey through Silence 4’s 30-year career, a date that will also be celebrated with almost sold-out concerts in Porto and Lisbon.
It will only open on November 14, where it will remain for a month, every day between 11am and 7pm, but we’ve already been there to see all the little corners of this space which, first and foremost, serves to tell the story of a band that, from one moment to the next, leapt to national music stardom – it was 1995.
30 years of Silence 4’s career
This initiative, curated by David Fonseca and the Think Out Loud agency, comes at the height of the band’s reunion concert euphoria, with the group kicking off the first of four sold-out nights at the Super Bock Arena in Porto on November 14, before heading to the two dates (one already sold out) at the MEO Arena in Lisbon on December 12 and 13.
Although it’s called a pop-up store, this space is intended to be much more than just a place where you can also buy the band’s merchandise, such as t-shirts, hoodies and even the band’s only vinyl albums. Silence 4’s pop-up store is a kind of ephemeral museum (only available for a month) where you’ll be able to see a recreation of their first rehearsal room, an exhibition of photographs from their years together, as well as many other curiosities.
The recreation of the first rehearsal room…
Set up in Level One of the LX Factory, a multicultural space just outside the Alcântara neighborhood, this pop-up store is full of stories, . As soon as you enter, you’ll find a recreation of the first rehearsal room of this band from Leiria, with the (acoustic) instruments and many pieces of inspiration that the musicians kept.
Between crates, candles, canvases and an old metal lamp, you’ll be able to recreate the improvised environment of creative freedom where the band shaped the sound that would come to mark a generation in the late 90s.
This is undoubtedly a great surprise that Silence 4 kept under lock and key for their fans, who now have the opportunity to get to know all the band members even better: David Fonseca (vocals and guitar), Sofia Lisboa (vocals), Rui Costa (bass) and Tozé Pedrosa (drums).
… and the mythical yellow cassette
Of course, every band has that unique story, that moment you’ll never forget. In the case of Silence 4, it was this yellow tape.
David Fonseca himself told us that this is one of the most emblematic objects in this exhibition: according to the lead singer and guitarist of Silence 4, the yellow cassette tape is the original tape, kept in a handmade cardboard box, that the band took to record companies in 1996, before they recorded their first album.
And there’s a reason it’s yellow. It was because David Fonseca really wanted the little K7 to stand out from all the others. It seems that it really worked and in 1998 they recorded their debut album “Silence Becomes It”, which ended up selling more than 240,000 copies and going six times platinum.
The famous yellow cassette will be on display in a central showcase, as a testament to the faith and daring of the band from Leiria.
Photo exhibition, estate and surprise performances
The space also includes original, never-before-seen material, such as handwritten scores and unpublished photographs from the musicians’ personal collection. The RTP documentaries “Silence 4 – The Early Days” and “Silence 4 – Special” are shown on a television set from the 1990s, in a dialog with the past .
Going back a little to the beginning, yes, in this store you can also store, especially the much sought-after vinyl reissues of the sold-out albums “Silence Becomes It” and “Only Pain Is Real” (2000), as well as other collectors’ items.
We also learned that, throughout this month, this space will host special events for the biggest fans, as well as surprise performances, events that will soon be announced on the band’s social networks.
Thirty years on, this reunion, which the band insists is “a celebration, not a comeback”, proves that Silence 4 were more than a phenomenon, and they’re back now to serve as a meeting point for all their fans.
Address: Level One, LX Factory (Alcântara)
Opening hours: from November 14 to December 14, every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets: free entry
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