Konono No. 1 at Unit, May 22nd 2018

In the simplest of terms music can be defined as the combination of melody, harmony and rhythm. I don’t know if I agree with that, but I bring it up just to emphasize how difficult it is to achieve this just with percussion instruments. I have a little bit of experience with that, I used to play the drums myself in my teens and received complains about noise countless times.

Konono No. 1 is most definitely an experimental band, but they don’t make noise music. On stage they make an infectious groove with five percussion instruments, without a single guitar or keyboard. Well, I guess the likembe is a thumb piano, though.

Their arresting minimalistic sound was exposed to the rest of the world In 2005, when the first album of the Congotronics series was released. Between them, Kasai All Stars and a compilation including other artists, there have been seven releases in the series so far, all highly recommended.

Having suffered the horrible setback of losing their founder and his successor, the band is now lead by a member of the third generation of the Mawangu family. The torch was passed from Mingiedi to Augustin and now to Makonda. This incarnation of the band visited Japan and played two dates in Tokyo.

I went to the second one and luckily for me I had an unusually low numbered ticket, which allowed me to pretty much be the first person inside the venue. As I was walking in the DJs of Soi48 were already playing tunes. What a great selection they played, that was some of the best warm up music I’ve ever heard at a show. Indian, Middle Eastern, you name it. I think I heard some trap from those parts. Really cool stuff.

The opening act was not slouch either. Ei Wada has this project called Electronicos Fantasticos! that recycles ancient technology turning it into musical instruments. His performance this night included him banging on the screens of TV monitors and playing a fan as if it was a guitar mixed with a theremin. It was quite a feat, accomplished by using loops and other electronic aides and an excellent way to start the show.

About thirty minutes afterwards the members of Konono no. 1 walked to the stage in an extremely nonchalant way setting a pattern of how the rest of the show will be. A constant build up that enhances in intensity as it goes on. Each song will start with the likembes setting up the beat and Pauline Mbuka Nsiala joining in with the cowbells center stage. After some chanting and response between the lead vocalist Menga Waku and the rest of the band, Ms. Nsiala will stop playing and start dancing. She’ll make this strenuous physical activity seems effortless and incredibly smooth. I should know because she approached me several times during the show and rested her hands on top of my head while doing her hip thing.

Put in these terms sounds kind of formulaic, but it’s not, couldn’t be farther from it. The experience is similar to that of seeing a salsa band live. They will lock in a pocket that will be precise as a clock and yet loose and sinuous. At times one instrument will take a brief lead, conga and drums licks here and there, with the addition of dancing being the physical manifestation of it. To experience all of this in the flesh is the reason why most people goes to concert.

The show was going flawlessly, the sound was crystal clear and the audience was having a great time until an idiot jumped over the security bar and jumped on stage. For what it felt like an eternity, this dumbass was up there and not a single member of security tried to pulled him away. Imagine, for the sake of speculation, that the opposite would’ve happened. A Japanese band with a middle aged woman dancing on stage in a performance in Kinshasa and a member of the audience disrupting the show like that. We would be seeing that on the news non-stop. I guess that’s the world we’re living.

Obviously this affected the last part of the show and you could see it in the band’s members demeanor. Unit is a great venue but they need to step up their security game for these kinds of situations.

The band returned for an encore and wrapped it up after an hour and forty five minutes. Despite the infuriating incident towards the end, everyone left the venue with big smiles on their faces having witnessed a true cathartic experience, in the most uplifting sense, that is. Kudos to Microaction for putting this amazing show together. And please bring Kasai All Stars next!

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