Not Fado Away

Myfriend, man-about-town Doug Heye, sent me a list of recommended restaurants for Lisbon, as he had been not long before we were coming.  The one that jumped out to me was Tosco do Chico, for it was a Fado place.

Our taxi dropped us off at the top of a narrow pedestrian street that was full of bars.  We wandered down the Rua do Diario de Noticias, past the lively restaurants till we got to number 39. We got in line until we saw others going right in the door.  Since we had a reservation, we were able to go right in.  It's a tiny place, and they seat four or more to a table, so we were eventually placed with a nice couple from Brazil (she) and France (he).  They live together now in France and are planning to be married.

We hurriedly ordered some tapas, mostly meats, cheeses, bread, and olives.  The Fado started promptly at 8:30, with the two guitarists playing a song to warm up.  Then, the first singer started in, an older male.

Fado is an art form of Portuguese music, and is popular in bars around Lisbon as well as Coimbra.  It may also be done in other cities, but I don't know.  Started in the 1820s, Fado is a must-do while in Portugal.  From Wikipedia:

In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor, and infused with a sentiment of resignation, fate and melancholia. This is loosely captured by the Portuguese word saudade, or longing, symbolizing a feeling of loss (a permanent, irreparable loss and its consequent lifelong damage). 

It's definitely mournful, and somewhat haunting to listen to.  I say "somewhat" simply because, well, when you don't know Portuguese, it's hard to know exactly what they are singing about.  Is it a lost love, the death of a beloved family member, or a cat run over in traffic?  It's possible we heard songs about all three.

It's extra moving because we are all jammed into together into this small restaurant/bar.  Everyone is in good spirits, and the photo of the two guitarists below underscores that we are all right on top of each other.  

There were maybe 50 people total in the restaurant, and we were crammed in.  COVID was not a concern of this crowd (Portugal's rate per 100k right now is about 1/3 of the US rate, and 97-99% are vaxxed, depending on which source you see).  

The older male singer (readers:

no kidding Glen, we could tell!)

He sang three or four songs, and then there was a break.  We chatted with Marcella and Sebastian.  It was a pleasant chat.  They drove 12 hours from France to come to the WebSummit, which is a big tech deal going on in the city.  They are adopting two four-month old Portuguese Water Dogs, so we commiserated with them about the impending puke feast on the long drive home.  

They surprised us by buying a Fado CD from older male singer, Joao Carlos, having him inscribe it, and giving it to us.  Now we just need to figure out a working CD player. . .I think there is one in a couple of our cars!

The second singer was a more traditional female Fado artist.  She is young, and had quite the voice.  At some point, I turned to Carol and said, "I feel like this is something out of a Rick Steves show."  (If you don't know who Rick Steves is, google him. . .and then DVR some of his shows.  They are great adverts for European travel.)

The young singer.  There's not a lot

of room for them to perform, but

that's part of the charm.

During the breaks, the lights would

go up and the guitars would

be hung on the wall.

We stayed for probably four rounds of singing, two by Joao Carlos and two by her (never got her name).  It really was a magical experience.