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Concert Report: Habib Koite

I went with a group of work-related folks, and none of us had ever heard anything by this guy, or really knew anything about it, but decided what the hell based on a single recommendation. Go Kristen for organizing! I didn't have to, which was nice. So we drive up, parked in the weird structure, and walked past the strip club to get to the Great American Music Hall. It was kind of a strange club, rectangular with the stage at the narrow end and a balcony all the way around the top. Lots of tables, but all of the big tables on the second floor had absolutely no view of the stage. Lots of the tables on the first floor were obstructed by pillars and standing people in the standing area, so it wasn't exactly a great venue for line of sight. Maybe if we had gotten there early. The opening band was pretty mediocre, consisting of several drummers, a guitar player/singer guy, and a woman that sang. Neither singers had engaging voices, and the songs all started off ok but quickly turned into something that sounded just like all of the other songs, with the drummers taking over. Maybe I just don't have the appreciation for complex rhythms or something. So mostly we sat and talked, not caring that we didn't have a view of the "action." But then Habib and his band came on, and after a couple of songs we decided it would be worth checking out (and Roger was making fun of us...) The band had Habib, who sang and played guitar, another guitarist, a bass player (who also played some more traditional african stringed instrument), a drummer playing a drum set, a drummer playing a little talking hand drum, and a xylophone (is that what it is called if it is made of wood?) player who also played a violin-like instrument. There was another drum guy that played some of the songs, and a woman they got to sing a song with them. They were all quite good, which we got to really see when they all did big solos in the last song before the encores. The talking drum solo was the most impressive to me - the guy got an amazing wave of sound to roll out of this little thing. The crowd seemed pretty in to things, and Habib did a good job interacting with the crowd, despite limited english ability. They always kept some rhythm going between songs, which helped keep the crowd into it, I think. I enjoyed a lot of the songs, but mostly I think I just enjoyed seeing people perform that seemed to really enjoy performing and giving a good show for the crowd. That was neat.