MANEL CRUZ | CRU
MANEL CRUZ | CRU
MANEL A SOLO
Ornatos Violeta, Foge Foge Bandido, Pluto, and Supernada are projects that have left a mark on the last few decades of Portuguese music, all sharing the genius touch of Manel Cruz.
An unmissable name and charismatic figure who, since the 1990s, has established himself as a cult personality in Portuguese rock, winning over a legion of fans with hundreds of concerts and a sublime musical résumé.
This year, after a creative hiatus, Manel Cruz returns to the stage and is preparing to release new songs under his own name.
Attending a Manel Cruz concert means singing his iconic lyrics at the top of your lungs, in a show that promises to be as thrilling as it is irreverent.
This is not a concert to present new songs—though that doesn’t mean there won’t be any. It’s not a concert to revisit old songs—though that doesn’t mean that won’t happen either. Above all, it’s a concert designed to create a space where every song is delivered in the rawest, most stripped-down form possible, embracing intimacy through vulnerability.
I only started performing solo a few years ago. It wasn’t exactly planned—let’s say I began by “dipping a toe in,” responding to occasional invitations. For me, the joy of playing was always tied to sharing the stage. Over time, I think I learned to enjoy being there on my own, or just by myself, facing certain fears that arise when we take ourselves too seriously. It’s a stage, one person, offering something of themselves to those willing to receive it. A proposed journey for and with each person present.
I came to realise the importance of the team that joins me and helps shape that moment. That’s where my greatest joy lies—alongside seeing it reflected in the audience. And cyclically, we do an artistic residency to introduce new challenges to the show. That’s what we’ll be doing in 2025: from the “cru” tour, we’ll move toward a new flavour. We don’t yet know what it will be—perhaps in 2026 we’ll understand it in retrospect.
One thing we do know: it will involve sound, light, and poetry.
Manel Cruz