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Let's be honest here...How many of you have
actually heard of Baka Beyond? Seriously? You have? Well, I
definitely had not. World music has never been my full cup of tea.
If we are even more honest it's never been my lukewarm, quarter
dregs of a cup of tea either. Before leaving for the gig, I had a
quick review of their website
http://www.bakabeyond.net, listened to about two seconds of the
live video and I resigned myself into the idea that I would need a
pint or two to get me through the cultural assault my ears were
about to take.
Baka Beyond were originally inspired by Martin
Cradick & Su Hart's visits to the Baka Forest People in Cameroon.
While there they played music with and recorded the Baka. Baka
Beyond currently consists of musicians from 6 countries in the
Celtic fringes of Europe and the West coast of Africa who have
joined together to play the most energetic fusion sound I have ever
heard. On their website they say, "The spirit of the music lives in
the rhythm." But after seeing them on stage, I'd say the spirit of
the music is not only the rhythm and beat, but within the energy of
all of the band members.
Walking into the venue I couldn't help thinking
I might be the only person in the crowd that's not a family member
or a roadie... Boy was I wrong! The place was packed. Even
stranger to me at the time was the amazing cross section of people.
You had the tragically hip to the tragically aged all gyrating
African style with each other to Baka Beyond’s melodious beats. It
was like one, big, hippy love fest.
You can't help repeating over and over that
they were amazing. I challenge anyone to sit through a show of
theirs and not want to dance. Before you know it you're bopping
along to the beat, feet wildly wanting to be set free.
The energy of the band, let alone the crowd was
astonishing. I did wonder if we should have had some ambulances on
standby just in case the aged got a little too worked up. As one
young punter told me while gyrating and flailing about to the music,
"Baka Beyond is a guaranteed good night out!" |
