Review: Parallel Society, Marvila, Lisbon

There’s a certain kind of building you often pass in this city – old, vast, abandoned. If you stand on your tiptoes so you can peer through the broken windows, you can really see it, that: this would be an amazing space for a party. Tonight, it feels like being in one of these cryptic spaces. Not so abandoned and thankfully windows fully intact, this warehouse space holds it all beautifully; scale without coldness, rawness without neglect. The visuals projected on the walls that hit you as soon as you enter are extraordinary; not for entertainment, but an actual second language running parallel to the music.

The space is expansive. There’s the two main rooms; The Terminal and The Lab, an incredibly atmospheric smoking area (coming from a non-smoker), bars, food stalls and big wide windows that look out onto the Tagus and its choppy grey waters. Inside, people move in gentle swarms toward the main stage, warming themselves on sound.

We arrive for Gilles Peterson, loose and communal with MC Rob Galliano alongside him, the set sweeping wide across jazz, soul and bass. A reminder of why Peterson remains one of the most generous curators in the room. He’s never just playing records, but always building something. 

Moses Boyd takes the stage. His live set has a different kind of urgency – jazz not as nostalgia but as something kinetic and present-tense, drums driving the room forward with real force. It’s the kind of performance that reminds you why live matters.

Then The Lab. A perfect white box with one solid wall of tripped-out visuals and a hypnotic driving sound from Kokeshi who becomes an instant new favourite for me. Maria Amor & Shcuro of Disco Paraíso make the space theirs completely. At some point, you stop thinking about where you are and can just exist inside the music. It’s gripping, and I feel both reluctant and kind of guilty to have to leave for what’s about to take place in the next room.

Apparat, takes the state in The Terminal. A live show that’s new and fully realised. It captures you early and doesn’t let go, something between precision and warmth that’s hard to name. Standing in this room, in this city, on this particular night, feels like a privilege. You feel held. Calibre and Kode9 close out The Lab, bass culture given room to breathe, rewarding everyone who finds their way back there.

What strikes you most, stepping outside, is what tonight means for Lisbon. For a significant number of artists on the bill, this is their first time playing the city. That carries weight. The underground scenes here are alive; you hear it in the local acts woven through the programme, but nights like this show what Lisbon can hold. Not Manchester, not Berlin. Something particular to here: the Tagus outside, the old walls around you. The music is still going.

Watch full set here: