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How, exactly, does one review an energy? Because what was coming off the stage at Gabah in Hollywood tonight was so much more than mere music -- and we all know what a powerful force music is.
It’s midnight. 14 -- or was it 15? -- musicians are crowded onto a tiny stage at an old school funk & hip-hop club night, ready to deliver uplifting, bulletproof afro-beat grooves to the masses. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Antibalas (the name is Spanish for "bulletproof" or, literally, "anti-bullets"). Hailing from New York, Antibalas formed in May 1998 and is comprised of members of Desco Records' Soul Providers and Daktaris, among others. The collective rightfully deserves their reputation as keepers of the flame lit by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
Forget everything you thought you knew about music, and simply open yourself up to the energy coming off the stage, because it’s only then that you’ll truly appreciate Antibalas for what they are -- a joyful noise aimed straight at your spirit. All I drank all night was water, and yet I came out of that club buzzing like a mo’fo’. My cheeks HURT from smiling so hard for so long. During the show, a friend said to me, "This is the kind of music that makes you want to take ecstacy on a Thursday night." Correction -- this is the kind of music that makes you feel like you did. It’s 1:39 a.m. as I write this, and instead of being exhausted after a long work day and then this late show that started at midnight, I’m flying, boosted by this peculiar happiness that I feel no need to shake. A happiness that will most certainly propel me through the doors of the Temple Bar in Santa Monica tomorrow night, for just one more taste of this groove collective before they continue their California journey up north.
I love that the band makes it a point to ask the audience if they’re ready. "Because if we don’t ask, and you’re not ready, what’s the point?" proclaimed alto saxophonist Martin "Doctor" C-Perna at one point. Constant interaction with the audience makes the experience special -- don’t expect to have a voice when the show’s over, because if you’re caught up in it just right, you’ll have "Yeah! Yeah!"-ed your way to hoarseness with the rest of the crowd.
Do yourself a favor -- no matter how tired you are, whether you have to work tomorrow, if you don’t know how to pronounce the band’s name -- just... go... see... Antibalas!
Yeah! Yeah!
Gina Figliuolo
JamBase Los Angeles Correspondent
Go See Live Music!
Antibalas remains on the West Coast for the rest of the weekend: Friday at The Temple Bar in Santa Monica, Saturday at the Elbo Room in San Francisco, and Sunday at the Justice League in San Francisco.
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