Os Mutantes

Sergio Dias is having fun, and having his audience have fun right along with him. Behind him there's no longer the old Os Mutantes, the group that in the late Sixties managed to blend psychedelia with traditional Brazilian music, cutting a handful of records that went on to become legendary. Today, playing alongside Sergio on stage is a group of musicians much younger than him – Vinicius Junqueria, Fabio Recco, Henrique Peters and Vitor Trida – a generation that also grew up on the Os Mutantes repertoire. Rounding out the lineup on the Circolo degli Artisti stage are old friend Dinho Leme and his wife Bia Mendes.

Much of the Rome show on 13 July was built around the Brazilian group's old classics: "Don Quixote" (from 1969's "Mutantes") and "Bat Macumba" (from the self-titled debut album of 1968) were sung along by the crowd, sparking uncontainable joy on stage. The effect is no longer as destabilizing as it must have been forty years ago, and, to be honest, a touch of nostalgia does seep through the prog-samba weave of the 'new' Os Mutantes, but the joy radiating from Dias and his band is genuine and infectious. There was also time for their version of friend Caetano Veloso's classic "Baby" and a dedication to our own Prime Minister (tucked between the lines of "El Justiciero", from "Jardim Elétrico" (1971)), while room to present the new album, "Haih or Amortecedor" (2009), was kept to a minimum. Despite the unbearable heat, the crowd danced and had a blast.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google