Sergio Mendes and friends turn IndigO2 into a Brazilian festival (From News Shopper)

Sergio Mendes and friends turn IndigO2 into a Brazilian festival

12:49pm Monday 16th July 2012 in Freetime latest news By Nikki Jarvis

After a painfully tiring day of travelling, my friend and I were going to let our hair down with some Brazilian beats in Greenwich.

We’d gone to IndigO2 on Saturday night to see the legendary Sergio Mendes and his extraordinarily talented friends.

Faced with a choice of standing or seated tickets, we took the lazy route and chose to enjoy the show from the comfort of a chair – what a mistaka to maka.

We were shattered when we arrived, but Sergio and his incredibly infectious rhythms made it impossible to sit still.

From the beautiful balcony we watched the standing crowd get swept up in the music so intensely their feet gave them no choice but to start a conga.

I’ve never longed to grab hold of a stranger’s waist and run around in a human rhythm train so much in my life.

Sergio (who remained firmly at his keyboard throughout the show), his glamorous trio of backing singers, rapper friend H2O, fantastic team of drummers, guitarists and one seriously amazing percussionist brought Brazil to life on stage.

Singing in a mixture of Portuguese and English, the musicians took us back to Sergio’s Rio routes and I think he imagined himself right back at the Copacabana.

My friend, who fondly compared the star to a lovely snowman, was equally impressed with the entertainer’s style.

Sergio’s percussionist, a Capoeira expert, blew everyone away.

The crowd watched in amazement as he ran around the stage playing literally everything in sight.

This man could make anything sound good – and he can dance too.

We may not have been able to join the conga, but it didn’t stop us dancing.

Everyone in the packed audience was up on their feet and dancing like mad to Sergio’s most recognisable hit Mas Que Nada.

Rerecorded with the Black Eyed Peas in the last few years, this one turned the IndigO2 into a bodacious Brazilian party house.

Sleep was the last thing on our minds – Sergio is Brazil’s answer to the Pied Piper and he had us hooked.

To see what’s on at IndigO2, visit theo2.co.uk/indigo2/