Oh Seu

Last night, the air was thick with sweat and World Cup Fever. That's what you get when Brazilian actor/musician/superstar Seu Jorge comes to town. The sold-out show was hot and crowded---and the least hipsterish we've ever seen Neumo's. Members of the audience were speaking in Portuguese, donning soccer jerseys, and wearing glasses less out of concern for their image than their eyesight. All in all, it was an energetic, friendly crowd. And when Seu, along with his four-piece backing band, took the stage a little after 10:30pm, the audience reacted to the music in a way that we don't see much in Seattle: They danced. Not the arms-crossed, head-nodding form of dancing, nor the pushing-people proto-mosh. But some bonafide swaying, hip-shaking, wave-your-hands-in-the-air-like-you-just-don't-care dancing. It was amazing.

As for Señor Jorge, we don't have a clue as to what he was singing. Hell, we couldn't even really understand him when he spoke to the crowd. But he and his band put on quite the show. They made great use of varied, percussion-heavy instrumentation. There were hand drums of all stripes and sizes, including the cuíca (the instrument that makes the plastic straw noise), lots of tambourines, a little ukelele-type thing, and Lord knows what else. The set ran the gamut, some of it samba-y, some funky, some Portuguese raps, and some of the rawer stuff from his album CRU. The crowd was all too happy to clap along with the music, encourage the musicians to dance onstage, engage in a call-and-response, or give it up for some enthusiastic bongoing. The atmosphere was lively and fun, so it was a shame that we had to leave the show early. At the time we left (approaching 11:30pm), we had yet to hear a Bowie cover. Don't break our heart by telling us we missed "Life on Mars."

Photos care of Flickr / user talldrinkawater3000.