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Words by: Shain Shapiro :: Images by Tony Stack
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra :: 05.18.07 :: Bitterzoet :: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Antibalas |
There is something menacing and fierce about Afrobeat. When a mass of individuals, armed with scraps of wood, metal, strings and wires, wields political power through indigenous sounding musicianship, a sense of urgency develops. Fashionably militarized, Afrobeat engenders a call to arms or a call to dance. I never got to experience Fela Kuti's eponymous activist concerts in the stadiums surrounding Lagos, but on this mild, surprisingly calm Friday night in Amsterdam his mirage was there. I felt militarized, emblazoned with a sense of responsibility to care about and change the world around me. This is because Antibalas came to town, spreading Fela's ferocity turned political manifesto one towering brass interlude at a time.
Amayo |
Bitterzoet is not a big place to begin with and every square inch had someone ready to dance. Last time the band came to Amsterdam, they sold out a larger venue, so this exclusive one-off proved popular with the locals, especially because Bitterzoet - which means Bittersweet in English - is not a typical music venue. Usually home to DJs and club nights, the venue has live music only a few times a week. Therefore, hosting a complex, twelve-piece Afrobeat collective from Brooklyn was surprising. It paid off beautifully, with the venue emitting gallons of sweat as each soul used their six-inches of floor space to let loose and breathe deep.
From the onset, the spirit of Fela filled every nook and cranny, exploding into a dance party that lasted well over 90-minutes. The claustrophobia of the venue fed off each horn blast and conga slap, creating an atmosphere that strengthened with each song. With lead singer Amayo and tenor saxophonist Stuart Bogie in charge, the band weaved through tracks off their new record, Security, alongside older gems from Talkatif and Who Is This America? They began with the new album's title track, a 20-minute romp that sailed through jazzy keyboard fugues and expansive brass interplay. Bogie and Amayo conducted the band through a brilliant expose into American foreign policy with "War Hero" and an especially caustic version of "Indictment," as well as five other lengthy, Afrobeat gems.
Antibalas |
Unlike past tours that showcased older albums, this set was a noticeably more collective affair, as the band members traded places, instruments and shaking duties. Both guitarist Marcos Garcia and trumpeter Jordan McLean took lead vocals for a song. Garcia led the troupe through a Cuban jazz fuelled affair and McLean took over for a funky call for attention to America's depleting bee population. Not only did each song rival the fierce politics practiced by Fela and Tony Allen in Afrobeat's nascent days, but also each note, guitar tinge, bass loop and keyboard wail kept every single audience member shaking their ass, learning what we need to do to save the world while ingesting the sweetest sounds known to man. Whether it was Amayo or Bogie calling for immediate impeachment of the top crooks or McLean pleading for a solution to the mysterious, utterly troubling honeybee disappearances, the audience lapped it up. In some ways, everyone was dancing so hard it didn't matter if they took each word to heart. Yet, the combination of music and message proved powerful. That is the ultimate strength of Antibalas, and Afrobeat in general. The message is direct, and sometimes too forceful, but when mixed with bumpy, rhythmic funk and juju jazz it goes down sweeter than the eighth shot of Jaeger after meeting your girlfriend's parents.
As the band worked through a lengthy encore, the crowd, drenched in sweat and inebriation, pleaded for more. Antibalas grasped each attendee ferociously, sunk its teeth into the listener's consciousness whilst pumping their groove into our bellies. Everyone looked exhausted, and I can only fathom how I came across - dripping, perplexed and accomplished, much like each of the twelve bulletproof New Yorkers that delivered the beating.
JamBase | Amsterdam
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Words & Images by: Karl-Erik Stromsta
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra :: 05.23.07 :: Nattjazz Festival :: Bergen, Norway
Antibalas :: 05.23 :: Norway |
Amid the Chablis-quaffing, high culture splash of Norway's Nattjazz Festival, Antibalas unleashed a two-hour set of horn-sopped Afrofunk triumphalism. The Norwegians didn't know what hit them.
While the 10-day Nattjazz Fest remains unfamiliar to many Americans, it has been a favorite of musicians since the '70s. In recent years, it's drawn the likes of Medeski Martin & Wood, Femi Kuti, James Brown, The Band and many others, who come for the overwhelming charm of Norway's second city, not to mention the chance to play venues smaller than anything they've seen since the infancy of their careers. Antibalas was this year's hottest ticket, and the gale-force rain pounding Bergen served as the perfect backdrop for the storm that was about to take the stage.
Antibalas' hometown homeboys, The Brooklyn Funk Essentials, set a pitch-perfect mood with their Blues Brothers meets shagged Prince gospel get down. The crowd may not have danced like they do back in Gotham, but even hidden behind their Ray Bans it was obvious the Funk Essentials enjoyed every note.
Antibalas :: 05.23 :: Norway |
Antibalas has a knack for drawing rootsy, eclectic audiences that are as much fun to watch while one dances amongst them. This time around the dress code skewed toward suits and cocktail dresses but the mood was as celebratory as ever. It may not have been the tightest set Antibalas has ever stitched together, with a few dead mics and missed cues, but mostly it was just twelve people dishing out funk seizures like shiny nickels.
With little introductory ado, Antibalas launched into an arsenal of material from their newest album, Security, stopping only to let their four-man horn artillery eject the spit from their shiny weapons. A transcendent "War Hero" was followed by a rabid "Hilo," but when you're lost in the belly of a relentless Antibalas show – shifting seamlessly through jazz, funk, Afrobeat, Latin and whatever else the occasion calls for – setlists hardly seem to matter.
Duke Amayo, Antibalas' percussionist and de facto spiritual leader, elicited awe – and maybe even a little fright – from the dolled-up Scandinavian crowd with his glittering African jumpsuit and Baron Samedi style voodoo facepaint. Pete Doherty doppelganger Nick Movshon held down the deep end on his four-string bass, while Victor Axelrod, sporting an army cadet cap and cheeky smirk, served up lo-fi funk lashings on his Clonewheel Roland organ.
Antibalas :: 05.23 :: Norway |
The funniest part of the night came when saxophone player Stuart Bogie, attempting an ill-fated dig at American foreign policy, relayed an anecdote about U.S. Army weapons being melted down and made into saxophones at the end of World War II.
"The U.S. Army doesn't do nearly enough these days," Bogie said, with a too-long pause. "With saxophones, that is."
Predictably, the quip sailed twenty feet over the heads of almost everyone in the crowd, who assumed he was making a thinly veiled pro-war statement. After a moment of awkward silence and a quicker-than-usual drumstick count-off, the music began moving again, and with it a roomful of kitten heels and leather loafers.
After their encore finally landed somewhere in the wee hours, Amayo pumped his fists and told the crowd how great Bergen had treated them. It made no difference whether his comments were sincere or mere showmanship. As the sweat-drenched masses spilled out into the freezing rain, seeking refuge in overpriced taxis, one thing was abundantly clear: Sunny Afrobeats go a long way in the cold heart of Norway.
JamBase | Norway
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