Various Concerts

In the past 10 days, I've gone to see a few shows, but have been neglecting my blogging duties cause I'm a lazy bastard. So here's a recap...

On July 23, I went to the Neighborhood Theatre to see Tropic Culture open for Toubab Krewe. Before the show, I managed to gather TC's band members together for an interview. I lined them up for a group photo.



Tropic Culture played some of their older material, plus a few new songs they have been working on. Although the crowd started out small and sitting down in the rear seats, by the end the band had managed to get some of them up and moving around near the stage. Which is what the opening act is supposed to do, right?





Toubab Krewe headlined the show, which meant I got to kill two birds with one stone, since I had been interested in hearing them for some time. Toubab Krewe are a group of white guys from Asheville, who, having made several long sojourns in West Africa, channel Ali Farka Toure by blending West African styles with American rock. They sounded intriguing, though their instrumental compositions were offset by the weird ululations issued from the crowd as groups of frat boys and dead heads showed their appreciation by yelling something that sounded "African." Their enthusiasm was not contagious, and I left the concert early- a good singer, in any language, would add a lot to Toubab Krewe's appeal.





By Wednesday, July 28, I was in New York City, where I went to preview a Puerto Rican group, Plena Libre, who will be headlining Charlotte's Latin American Festival on October 10. Daliz and I arrived a little late and the party was already in full swing at Wagner Park in lower Manhattan. Plena Libre played an intense version of traditional bomba y plena from the island, adding in some salsa and even samba. It was a perfect evening, warm, clear skies, dancing by the harbor with a view of Lady Liberty. I look forward to seeing how they do in front of a Charlotte audience.






Back in Charlotte on Thursday, I observed Bakalao Stars rehearse in their practice space. On Friday, I went to see Ultima Nota play for the first time at Dressler's, an upscale restaurant near uptown Charlotte. No pictures of these two things, sorry.