Not only that, but in true African Soul Rebel fashion of having a trio of acts, the opening group was Awadi from Senegal with their brand of Afro-hip hop-reggae-rock.

The African Soul Rebel format has been going since 2005 with Senegalese hip hop trio of Daara J, Mali’s Tinariwen and Rachid Taha (Poole Review HERE). Then we had Malian couple Amadou and Mariam at the Dome in 2006 and Femi Kuti last year.

And what better follow up than to get Femi’s dad’s musical director of “Africa 70” during their most innovative period from 1968 to 1979? The man himself, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is supposed to have said, “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat”

Fresh from his collaboration with ‘rock stars’ The Good, The Bad & The Queen (with Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon), Allen proved his Eager Hands And Restless Feet.. are as good now as they were 40 years ago or even 20 years ago when he did N.E.P.A. (Never Expect Power Always). Surrounded by young guns on guitar, bass, trumpet and keyboards, with a blend Miles’ jazz-fusion 70s style with African sounds got this mixed crowd on their feet and dancing in the aisles. It was a revelation, great fun and a wonderful advert for the retrospective Afro Disco Beat album featuring Allen’s first four solo album (the first three of which were produced by Kuti).

It was surely the uptempo vibe of Allen that got him top billing as Mali’s Salif Keita is arguably more popular as “the golden voice of Africa”. There’s a short biog on him at africanmusic.org and can you imagine seeing him at Bamako Station Hotel in 1969? I was impressed with it from Dee Dee Bridgewater’s Red Earth (she’s also coming to the UK, see preview and, for completeness, albino prejudice isn’t confined to Mali, check out Yellowman).

Keita’s biggest recent success in Europe was 2002’s Moffou and then, after moving back to Bamako to live, he built a recording studio that he used for his latest album, M’Bemba, released in October 2005.

Even as a live act, you can feel the that there’s not a great leap from the all acoustic set to the all-electric house, minimal techno of club land (a point emphasised with the Moffou remix album like Osunlade’s Yoruba Soul Remix of ‘Moussloulou’. Great quote from Keita in the programme, “you can make people dance with Malian traditional instruments because dance is not in the instruments but in the rhythms”. With this ethos, he lead the way for the likes of current stars Bassekou Kouyati & Ngoni Ba and Ba Cissoko.

And talking about up and coming, Didier Awadi has been talked about as the next African superstar. He’s very much conscious rapper with a pan-African (or even World a la Bob Marley) political message. His latest album is Sunugaal on Mr Bongo and the multi-media project Presidents d’Afrique, with archive footage of recordings of African freedom fighters and politicians, is out on DVD. Hard-hitting subjects but he manages to get this crowd believing they are a start of the revolution with his enthusiasm. It seems to amuse him and the band how the crowd reluctantly join in with their chanting (“George Bush is a criminal”) but with some more familiarity/a younger crowd/no seating, you can imagine the mosh-pit getting excited by some of more rock-orientated songs.

So, once again, another great gig that’ll be talked about at least until next years’ African Soul Rebel Tour; get the T-shirt.

Links:
www.myspace.com/tonyallenafrobeat
Tony Allen — Afro Disco Beat out on www.vampisoul.com
www.musicbeyondmainstream.com
Awadi — Sunuugal
www.mrbongo.com
www.thegoodthebadandthequeen.com
www.myspace.com/thegoodthebadandthequeen
15.2.08 — Brighton, Brighton Dome Concert Hall / 01273 709709 www.brightondome.org
16.2.08 — Bristol, Colston Hall / 0117 922 3686 www.colstonhall.org
17.2.08 — Warwick Arts Centre / 024 7652 4524 www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
18.2.08 — London Barbican / 020 7638 8891 www.barbican.org.uk
21.2.08 — Poole Lighthouse / 08700 668701 www.lighthousepoole.co.uk
22.2.08 — Basingstoke The Anvil / 01256 844244 www.anvilarts.org.uk
23.2.08 — Leicester De Montfort Hall / 0116 233 3111 www.demontforthall.co.uk
24.2.08 — Liverpool Philharmonic Hall / 0151 709 3789 www.liverpoolphil.com
25.2.08 — Manchester Bridgewater Hall / 0161 907 9000 www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk
26.2.08 — Gateshead The Sage Gateshead / 0191 443 4661 www.thesagegateshead.org