Seu Jorge's concert

Seu Jorge was very very very impressive...

The first part of the concert (Afro Reggae) had been cancelled, so Gilles Peterson, as a perfect, incredible warm-up before Seu Jorge, threw Samba rythms into the room. Just what the local Portuguese community was waiting for: by then end of the first part, hips were in full swing!

Then Seu Jorge arrived on stage with his musicians (mostly percussionists). One thing annoyed me: were they all sponsored by the same sportwear brand??? Anyway, I tried to ignore this detail.

The concert started with songs from the album "Carolina", then there was some very rhythmical, very dense, almost violent samba, and this is where the talents of the musicians stood out. It was incredible.

Halfway through the performance, Seu Jorge, the drummer and the bassist left the stage, leaving the three percussionists showing off their skills. WOW! I thought it was really clever to show the individual sound of some obscure, if not unknown instruments. It worked really well. Then they left the stage and Seu Jorge came back, solo with his guitar.

On a completely dark stage except for a single spotlight above his head, he started singing several of his David Bowie's covers, "Life on Mars" among others. It was really good. Now the second thing that annoyed me during the concert was that at this stage, PEOPLE WERE TALKING!!!! They were on their mobile, or texting, or talking loudly at their neighbours... GGGGRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrr... I find this extremely irritating.

You know how 'in the old days' one used to hold a lighter up in the air during concerts? Well, it seems that it has now been replaced by the neon-blue light of mobile phones. That's progress for you.

Then all musicians were back on stage again and the concert finished at 11pm, after 2 encores, instead of the planned 10pm. Luckily the concert was at the Warwick Arts Centre, at the heart of Warwick University, so there are still a few buses after 11pm, so we could get home OK.

It was an amazing evening.