Konono #1

First and foremost, I apologize that my review is coming after the Bang, Bang, Bang review. I was on vacation last week and we only had the antiquated dial-up service. I also did'nt spend too much time on the computer as we were enjoying the sand and surf of the Outer Banks. So anyway, on with tthe review:

When I arrived at the Black Cat for the Konono #1 show I was greated by a small crowd in the Red Room and a nice pleasant room temperature. Met up with the other members of RC, minus Potsy and promptly enjoyed a frosty beverage. Gradually the room started to fill up and I must say I was expecting a lot of "world-music" types (i.e Tim Robbins character in High Fidelity, I think his name was Ian or Ray) , however, it was a genuinely mixed crowd of 40-something dudes, young punk rock girls, and of course married 30 something guys like us.

Dan went upstairs to check out the opening band and returned after only a few minutes complaining about the heat. Apperently the AC was out and there was even a warning posted as you went upstairs. When we went up for the headliner it was indeed quite hot. It felt like the Congo, without the river blindness...The band got underway and it was an interesting sound. Tribal, Congolese beats with singing. The band consisted of drummer (was there 2?) a keyboardist, a bongo player, and 3 dudes playing this strange electronic finger plucked instrument. It appeared to be handmade and produced a sound almost like a steel drum and a Jews harp, yet amplified . Anyway, we enjoyed a few tunes (although it sounded like one, long song) and I finally had to head back downstairs due to the heat. There wer many sweaty girating bodies enjoying the music and it was an interesting sound. However, the temperture got the best of me a I could only stay up in the front for about 20-30 minutes. Oh, did I mentioned the old Redd Foxx guy playing the homemade instrument. Fucking guy was wearing Dockers and a long sleeve shirt and I did nt see one drop of sweat. Meanwhile, my shirt needs to be wrung out and I smell like Dans running shoes. All in all, a good night out. Would I go see them again, probably not, but it was nice to see something a bit different from the alterna-pop that I am used too. This week Sleater-Kinney, time to rock.