Nuru Kane at the Gulbenkian

Gulbenkian Cafe, University of Kent, Canterbury
31st July 2014

A pan-African Lammas eve treat, but very few people showed up for it. No one I recognised, instead just a smallish seated audience of people who looked like they were probably Gulbenkian Theatre regulars who were inspired to come from the blurb in their mailout events brochure. Clapping along was as interactive as it got. Nuru Kane and his crew are not really a band for sitting down to! Fortunately it was a warm summer evening and all of the doors were open along the side of the stage, so I danced out on a patch of grass nearby. Despite the rather vibeless setting, they gave out their usual flood of positive musical energy. What really stunned me was how many people wandered past the building, within a few metres of the band, and didn't even turn their heads to look to see the colourfully clad crew making this amazing music! Beyond belief...

I caugh most of a support set from a young Afrobeat/jazzy/funky band who I would guess were linked to Christchurch's music department, reminded me of Zoo For You in their early days before Bruno stepped forward from the horn section to be a frontman. Prog guitarist/bandleader Joe Inkpen was depping on bass as were two other people, so there were music stands involved, and they probably weren't as tight as the usual lineup would have been. They forgot to mention the name of their band, though, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. [Note added 2014-09-02: They were the Luca Afrobeat Band (or just "Luca", not sure), check them out here!]