Femi Kuti at the Fillmore
Okay, when we suggested that the Femi Kuti show was sold out, it's because these evil ticket websites won't let you buy tix day-of-show. What's up with that? Anyway, we'll hold off on such declarations in the future.
Still, we got there early and grabbed some sweet seats in the balcony. Not great for dancing, but perfect for watching the pageantry of the performers and digging on the music. Plus we were sitting next to a friendly, beautiful older woman in traditional Nigerian dress who told us that she was from the same tribe as the Kuti family. Now that's what we call 'keeping it real.' The white guy on the main floor in the mufti? Not so much.
Sneaky cameraphone pic by George Kelly.
The opening set, by genre-busting hip-hoppers Daara J from Senegal, was upbeat goodness. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands with their high-energy stage presence and infectious beats. Their styles flowed from hard-knock contemporary beats to blends of reggae and afrobeat rhythyms. The pan-african blend is some tasty coffee, indeed, though we kinda wished they'd done at least one song en francais.
Femi's band come on next, in matching outfits. That was the first sign that this was going to be good. The sign that it was going to be great were the three dancers that joined them. Wow-dee-dow. While we hesitated to make a crack to our neighbor about which of Fela's thirty-plus wives that Femi was the son of, if any of them looked or moved like these women, we can see why the man may have been a bit selfish.
The horn and drum driven groove that accompanied Femi's entrance was like something we imagine James Brown's act was like. But the extended jams, the bright tone to the horns and the congo rhytms were definitely from his father. In fact, the one thing we couldn't suss out was Femi's personal influence. Still, the music is as complex as any classical piece, and we would never, ever fault a performer for touring with such a big band (the three front men of Daara J had only a DJ for accompaniment).
The highlight of the night was when Femi introduced his own son, who took off on a saxophone solo. The apparently pre-pubescent tyke also held us own playing with the horn line and helping out on percussion. That's some freakin' talent! But it comes as no surprise, and we're looking forward to a third generation of Kuti men gracing world stages and bringing roots-funk to the masses.