Gilberto Gil Live At The Esplande

The following excerpt is taken from BigO's emailer:

As Brazil's culture minister, music icon Gilberto Gil might have less time to compose and listen to music. Still he has managed to fit in a tour that will take him to Hongkong, New Zealand, Australia and $ingapore. For Gil, it's pop diplomacy when he takes to the stage at the Esplanade on March 4. Acclaimed for his samba and bossa nova tunes, Gil said in an interview that he had always combined his music with politics. "One job enriches the other," he said. A strong environmentalist allied to Brazil's Green Party, Gil became minister of culture in January 2003. His brief is to use the arts to help bring the different social classes in Brazil together.

Since the '60s, Gil has been one of the most famous singers and composers in Brazil. With singers Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa and others he helped found Tropicalia, the musical movement that followed Bossa Nova. In 2003, Gil was named man of the year at the Latin Grammy Awards in Miami.

Tickets for the 8 pm show are at $149, 129, 109, 89, 69 and 49. Available from Sistic outlets (www.sistic.com.sg).

How fucken cool is that when you have a musical icon as your culture minister. You have no worries if your minster truly understand the concept of art or your minister is just using art to make some more money for the nation. As an ignoramous Singaporean citizen, I wouldn't even know who our Minister for the Arts, Communication and Information is. But I can bet you the Esplande that it's bound to be some government scholar.

This gig still clashes with the Bowie one which is going to happen on the exact same night. Fuck...