Youssou Ndour - 30 August 2018

This was a much anticipated gig but turned out to be quite a strange cultural collision but very enjoyable nonetheless. The thing is that Youssou Ndour has an extraordinary voice plus the best musicians (especially drummers) that Dakar can provide. First off we had the bonus of Seckou Keita playing a short set on the Kora with vocals which was brilliant as per usual. I clocked that he played a Youssou Ndour song and that was a highlight of his set for me, hearing the melody of that song played on the Kora rather than through vocals. Meanwhile the audience was puzzling me. The gig was supposed to start at 7:30 sharp with Youssou starting at 8:05. When Seckou Keita came on at 7:50 there was a smattering of people in the standing area downstairs and mostly empty seats in the balcony. The West Africans who were in the audience were largely glammed up and taking selfies and chatting rather than listening. Youssou came on at 8:35 and the audience had built up somewhat but the people around us arrived after 9pm, also glammed up, talking and taking selfies. The music was great, that unique voice, extraordinary percussion from four drummers, one on conventional drum kit the other three on African drums, up to three guitarists plus a bassist, two keyboards players, two backing vocalists, a sax player and the most amazing dancer. That's two gigs in a row at the Symphony Hall featuring multiple drummers and a dancer. I couldn't put a name to most of the stuff he played but it all had that feel of rich melodies, driving percussion and that expressive voice over the top. I did recognize '7 Seconds' and right at the end, brilliantly and unexpectedly 'Redemption Songs'. Strange atmosphere in the audience but worth the trip to Birmingham.