The wildest Congolese street rumba-funk band comes back to Bristol.
After rocking Fiddlers two years ago, Staff Benda Bilili now return in glory having seen their star rise in meteoric fashion ever since aided by the release of'Benda Bilili', a remarkable documentary film that traces the band's astonishing ascent from the streets of Kinshasa to the world's festival stages.
This is certainly a band with a story to tell (more below) but tonight it's all about their irrepressibly hip-shaking music, which marries the indefatigable melody and groove of Congolese rumba pop with sun-dappled dub/reggae, lilting old-time balladry and James Brownian thunderfunk: it's all shot through with an uncompromising street-savvy toughness be it the no-nonsense band-leading guile of Ricky Likabu, the tin-can guitar histrionics of Roger Landu or the head-spinning joie de vivre of Djunana Tanga Suele that makes a heaving dancefloor throng out of whichever room you happen to catch them in 'Havana cantina, Kinshasa slum, psychedelic club or London arts centre this outfit would tear the roof off anywhere' - The Independent.
One of the great global success stories of the past year, Staff Benda Bilili have become an unstoppable force in international music. A group of street musicians who live in and around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, Congo, they make music of astonishing power and beauty. The band's mesmerising rumba-rooted grooves, overlaid with vibrant vocals and extraordinary tin-can guitar solos, have been dazzling audiences and media the world over, on record, on stage and now on the big screen.
Four paraplegic singer/guitarists form the core of the band, assisted by a 'hype man' on crutches who whips the crowd into a frenzy, and backed by an all-acoustic rhythm section pounding out tight grooves. Then, on top of everything, are those inimitable and infectious solos performed by a teenage prodigy on a one-string electric lute he designed and built himself out of a tin can.
Staff Benda Bilili ripped through Europe for the first time in late 2009, spreading the word about debut album'Trs Trs Fort' (out on Crammed Discs) with one of the most talked-about tours of the year. The continent's media responded in a chorus of praise, with top TV shows (including BBC Newsnight), broadsheet newspapers and world-renowned radios lavishing the band and their album with attention and end-of-year plaudits.
'Benda Bilili', a documentary film on the band shot over the past few years by French filmmakers Florent de la Tullaye and Renaud Barret, premiered at Cannes Film Festival last year. The band proved to be one of the sensations of the festival, with reviews describing them as'The Kinshasa social club' (The Times), and the film as'a rousing depiction of unimaginable poverty and transcendent rsolve' (Hollywood Reporter) as well as' "a remarkable documentary and an amazing music film" (Telegraph). The film was given a full release in March.