Communications major Marco Mantono walked away satisfied from the OZOMATLI performance Thursday.

“Hearing the band play felt like I was at a Salsa Club,” he said.

Doors opened at 7 p.m. and by 7:45 p.m. the dance floor was filled with people smiling and trying to catch the beat of the fast-paced Latin music.

Lights were flashing, people were dancing and it was captured all here at the University Union of Sacramento State. Some people did not know what to expect because of the obscure name of the UNIQUE event.

“Actually, I was expecting chairs, not this big dance floor in the middle of the ballroom,” said accounting major Tom Castro.

Castro heard about one of the bands, Sambada, from his aunt, and saw posters around campus saying they were going to be performing on campus, so he decided to check it out.

Before the show started, there were vendors around the backside of the ballroom, some selling OZOMATLI T-shirts and others handing out information about African dance and drum lessons.

“I was not expecting to see all of these vendors selling all kind of things. This man was trying to get me to take drum lessons,” said Jessica Vazquez, a digital video major.

The older crowd was the majority and non-Sac State students outnumbered students 4-to-1 by ticket sales.

“I was not expecting all of these older people that are here,” Vazquez said.

As he rocked his hips to the music, Gary Mason, a fan of Sambada, said he always tries to go to their concerts whenever they are in town.

By the time OZOMATLI got on stage to perform, the ballroom was packed. According to their website, the band’s style ranges from hip-hop to Middle Eastern funk, and it was apparent when they played.

People left with smiles and some even danced their way out of the doors.

“I had fun. Like I did not know what to expect at first because I never been to one of their concerts, but they got my hips moving and I enjoyed their music,” said graduate student Christina Villanueva.

David Green can be reached at [email protected]