Ivete Sangalo in concert

Yesterday was a scorching day in the sun dancing to music at a Mistura Brasileira concert in the park, featuring Ivete Sangalo.

The concert was a rare chance to see Ivete Sangalo in Niterói, and even better that it was in a relatively small venue, the Rio Cricket club (so the space is just a bit larger than a cricket pitch).

The gate opened at 2:00, so naturally we arrived just after 4:30 p.m.  Perfect timing.  The first of two warm up bands had just begun and the sun was just beginning to slope back down out of the sky. 

There was a vibrant street party going on outside the club with police trying to get folks to allow at least one lane of traffic to flow.  These scenes are mind blowing to the forever restricted and rules-following Americans.  Everyone has a beer or a cocktail in their hand.  Young men are holding liters of tequila or scotch overhead and hawking shots.  Circles of friends are pouring Red Bull and vodka for themselves, priming the pump before entering the field for the show.

It was blisteringly hot.  Once inside everyone was cramped under whatever shade they could find along the perimeter of the field.  The bands were terrific.

Occasionally the event organizers would cool the crowd down by shooting a fire hose fountain of water into the air.  People would run to stand under the refreshing “rain” to take the heat down a notch.  Oh the eye candy.

In true Brazilian style, beers were bought 10 at a time for your group.  The vendors filled a heavy plastic bag with 10 cans and a lot of crushed ice.  Instant cooler.  And you got a volume discount.

So we danced, and chatted, drank beer, met up with more friends and continued to dance waiting for Ivete.

Eventually she made her grand entrance and the place exploded.  True to her never-to-disappoint style of live performance, the energy started out at a “10” and never let up.  One song ran into the next, her 8 sidekick dancers never stopped, and she held the crowd in the palm of her hand for well over an hour.

It seemed everyone present knew every word to all her songs and sang along.  The crowd never stopped jumping up and down.

It was Brazil at its best for me.  I love being in that energy (even if I do not jump up and down for 90 minutes).  I adore music made buy a couple guitars, a saxophone and 24 drums and other percussion instruments.  And I really enjoy being in a crowd of all ages having fun together.

There was one reminder of how differently things are done here in terms of garbage.  There were no garbage cans, anywhere.  Tens of thousands of people were drinking from beer cans and using plastic cups (not to mention water bottles and soda cans) creating a mountain of trash.  The solution?  There was a small army of men and women in bright yellow shirts with stiff brooms and garbage bags wandering the site sweeping up after everyone.  Huh?  We were supposed to throw our trash on the ground because people had been hired to then pick it up.  Part of Brazil’s full employment program, I guess.  But I can’t help but believe that if there were large garbage cans set out they would be used properly.  Oh well.

Side note: Rachel recently did a post about the length of people's names here in Brazil. For the record, Ivete's full name is Ivete Maria Dias de Sangalo Nascimento.

Anyway – it was a blast.  Here is a clip of Ivete Sangalo to share the love.