"É muito foda, não tem um celular pro alto aqui," the rapper Marcelo D2 told the crowd at the João Rock festival in Ribeirão Preto on Saturday night. The moment, captured by the Brazilian news portal G1, was a spontaneous tribute to an audience that, for once, seemed more intent on dancing than documenting. It was a small but telling detail at a festival that, after a year of reduced attendance, had once again drawn 65,000 people to the Parque Permanente de Exposições, according to organisers.

The 2026 edition came just a week after a severe storm had left one dead and hundreds of trees down in the city, yet the weather held firm and sunny. Spread across five stages—João Rock, Brasil, Aquarela, Fortalecendo a Cena, and Eisen Rock Station—the lineup was a cross-section of Brazilian music, from hardcore to samba, though with a notable gender gap: only six women performed, almost all of them on the Aquarela stage. On the main stage, no female acts appeared.

The veteran Zé Ramalho, at 77, delivered a stripped-down set of classics that spanned generations, while Alceu Valença blended rock guitars with forró and frevo, at one point paying homage to Ramalho and Geraldo Azevedo. The band Raimundos, returning after seven years, dug into their forró-core roots with tracks like "Pela-Saco" and "Mulher de Fases," their punk energy undimmed. CPM22, marking three decades, brought out Di Ferrero of NX Zero for "Dias Atrás," and the crowd sang every word. On the Fortalecendo a Cena stage, Criolo moved from hip-hop to samba, his set closing with a near-a cappella singalong to "Detalhes de Cetim."

As night fell, Os Paralamas do Sucesso took the main stage, their decades of hits projected on giant screens. When Herbert Vianna asked for phone lights during "Lanterna dos Afogados," the audience complied, but the earlier absence of screens during D2's set lingered as a quiet counterpoint. In a festival landscape increasingly mediated by lenses, João Rock 2026 offered a fleeting reminder of what it means to simply be there.