Once upon a time, back in 2008. Stop Shopping Mall in Porto had gradually seen its shops being replaced by rehearsal rooms for local musicians, rented cheaply and conveniently. A center for consumerism gone bankrupt gradually resurrected as a center for independent, self-initiated creativity. FuturePlaces proposed to organise the first ever gig with musicians performing not as separate bands, but as a huge collective, moving freely throughout the building. The gig had a simple score (the KREV anthem), and was roughly conducted via mobile phones.
The experience was extraordinarily cathartic, and opened up a lot of doors. More gigs were organised, a “Stop musicians collective” spirit was born, workshops have been conducted, a 7″ single with extracts from the original gig was released via Ash International (see cover above), Stopestra was founded a few years later, and to this day the FuturePlaces Impromptu All-Stars Orchestra refers to CCStop as its spiritual home.
poststop.pt is a hybrid of archive and message board. A bit like the venue itself, it fades in and out but never truly vanishes.
An essay (by Anselmo Canha and Heitor Alvelos) about Stop@FuturePlaces HERE.
