One year after the shock of hearing electric guitars in the songs “Alegria, alegria” (“Joy, joy”) by Caetano and “Domingo no parque” (“Sunday in the park”) by Gil, presented at TV Record’s III Festival de Música Popular Brasileira (Third Festival of Brazilian Popular Music), Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil again surprised the public at TV Globo’s III FIC, Festival Internacional da Canção (Third International Song Festival).

Caetano, backed by the Mutantes, competed with “É proibido proibir” (“It’s forbidden
to forbid”) and Gilberto Gil, backed by the Beat Boys, with “Questão de Ordem”
(”Question of Order”).

The presentation of “É proibido proibir” ended up as a wild happening on that Sunday night
of September 15th, 1968. At the FIC’s final in São Paulo, held in the theatre of the city’s Universidade Católica (PUC-SP), Caetano’s song was furiously booed by the audience filling the auditorium.

The Mutantes had only just started playing the introduction to the song when the audience
was already throwing eggs, tomatoes and pieces of wood at the stage. Caetano, always provocative and wearing clothes of brilliantly-colored plastic and exotic necklaces, entered
the stage swiveling his hips in an erotic dance simulating the sexual act. The scandalized audience turned their backs on the stage. The Mutantes’ response was immediate: without missing a beat, they turned their backs on the audience.

Gil was hit in the leg by a piece of wood, but, unperturbed he took a bite out of one
of the tomatoes on the floor and threw the rest back at the incensed audience.

Caetano made a long and fiery speech that was almost inaudible over the uproar inside
the theater.

Hear the speech and read de text by James Amado.