Sometimes, cultural appropriation rules. Case in point? Antibalas, the 13-strong New York ensemble that mold Afrobeat to their own ethnically diverse American specs. They were a natural choice to arrange and perform the score to the Broadway hit Fela!, as Antibalas’s sinuously funky, epic jams tap directly into the Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer’s transcendent, hypnotic groove sorcery. Swerving leftward with their political agenda, Antibalas liberate bodies with the sort of positive energy that suggests a better, sweatier world is possible. (Neumos, 925 E Pike St, 709-9442. 8 pm, $16, 21+.)
Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when... More by Dave Segal
I saw these guys at Chop Suey a few years ago… I COULDN’T STOP DANCING ALL NIGHT! A mighty, mighty crew.