It has been way too long since I had have
seen some live afrobeat and also to see Seun perform. We travelled about 3hrs
to Braga and spent 1.5 days checking out the town and going to this show, which
happen to be on my birthday. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale and
we had the front row center) tickets were 8€!) in this beautiful and intimate
theatre of about 600 people. Amazing place, acoustics, etc..
There was no opening act and the band hit
the stage right at 22 and played until nearly midnight with no breaks. We had met the bass player, Justice, earlier
and he was a really cool guy and wanted my Fela t-shirt! Sadly, my friend Aaron was in an accident and
could not make the show, so I had his 4 tickets to try to sell. Managed to sell
2 of the 4 tickets. He also had front row! We met the percussion player as well
outside the venue. He had to finish his joint before the show!!
If you have been to a Fela or Seun show,
the band starts off the show with a song before the main man hits the stage. In
this case, the track was lead by the lead trumpet player. Good opening track.
People in the back and on the balcony were up and dancing. The band only has 4
from the Egypt 80 band now; the two guitar players, the wood block and shaker
guys. The rest are pretty young guys.
Seun came out for a Fela track called Pansa
Pansa from one of Fela’s later records (1992) called Underground System. He has
over the years played quite a few of his dad’s songs as a tribute and start of
the show. Never heard him do this one. The rest of the concert was all tracks
from the new record, which was a surprise for me. I had really hoped to hear
Slave Masters, my favourite Seun Kuti song. Anyway, I have the new record and
it is great so it was cool to hear longer versions these songs. They only
performed 9 tracks in about 2hrs. Seun did some talking to express his
political views and explain the lyrics to some of the new songs. He was funny
at times and also serious. Carlos Santana plays a long solo on the song
Struggle Sounds, but they just skipped the guitar solo completely. It was a
really good show. I would have danced as well but we were in the front row and
it would have forced all behind us to dance or be a bit annoyed.
A great and fun night. I hope I can meet
Seun one day.
Set List: Kuku Kee Me, Pansa Pansa, Last Revolutionary,
C.P.C.D., Black Man’s Lighter, African Dreams, Struggle Sounds, Black Times,
Theory of Goat and Yam
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