So this little review is totally overdue as I saw the event
on Friday night but in all honesty, I just had to let the excitement wear off
before I wrote anything. After all we want to keep it objective don’t we :P so I start off with saying I am still utterly
in infatuation with the Kubolor and gladly accept the groupie title any day any
time (the thing about being objective was said out of the depth of a sarcastic
mind...it’s my blog so I say what I like *shrugs*). Any man that makes me laugh that much, is that weird, and (oddly) such a gentleman deserves a ride or die groupie lol.
I went to see the boys on Friday the 10th of
august as an impromptu night out after realising they were performing at a
place called Hootenanny in Brixton. The event was called ‘wormfood’ and the
line up consisted of about 4 acts I believe, including a German group that played
some REAL controversial stuff, talking about they wish they end up in hell...ok, but you're on your own, mate! I wasn’t surprised that Wanlov and Mensa would
perform there as I know hootenanny to embrace any and everything weird and
wonderful. The crowd that goes there might not be particularly extensive but
they appreciate good music even if it is different and lets me honest there is
nothing ‘normal’ about Wanlov and Mensa's most recent, FOKN with ewe, album from which they performed several songs.
The stage set up was minimal, no fancy drapes or lighting,
just the average stuff really but the thing I love about hootenanny is the fact
that the people make the atmosphere. The last time I was there (to watch a
friend perform at an open mic night) the ambiance was very calm, collected and
soothing. The audience tends to reflect the acts on display for each night. Considering
that the FOKN BOIS and a lot of the other acts relate to a younger (slightly
wilder) group of people, this was reflected in the audience a little. Mind you I’m
not saying there weren’t some mature guests enjoying the music too and I tell
no lie when I say some seemed to enjoy the performance even more than the young
folk. In terms of the boys’ get up... just the usual. Mensa was in a casual African-like
printed top and shorts whilst Wanlov sported an international outfit that
hailed from Nigeria to Senegal to Ghana and a ‘skirt’ that hailed from Kenya I
believe. I was slightly tempted but knew better than to lift it up too high
whilst I studied the patterns. It was very eye catching and I guess I don’t need to mention
the fact that he wasn’t wearing shoes. I actually kept flinching for him as
people stepped inches away from his foot with their hard soled shoes but I
guess the man is used to it.
Anyway, the performance. Much to my amusement (they really make you feel
like they’re performing just for you, for your individual entertainment) they
started off the show with sets of press ups and I must say from what I saw they
both don’t seem to be in the worst of shapes. As the excitement grew with their
little stunt people that had dissipated away from the stage after the previous
act gradually started crowding around again and that’s when the Kubolor
introduced them as being most famous in china. You got three guesses for what
song they performed after that intro. As a matter of fact they did well to kind
of introduce each song they performed and even translated the chorus to sextra
terrestrial sex so that the people in the audience that weren’t Ghanaian or didn’t
understand twi would not feel left out.
I think my favourite moments from the performance was
firstly when they sang ‘we want to be white’ not only do I love that song
because of the obvious sarcastic nature which I relate to so well but also
because they switched it up a bit by having the band play a hi life style beat.
Oh I didn’t mention the live band before did I? I apologize, especially because
I think it brought a whole new vibe to the performance. The guy on the guitar who
I found out to be Ryan Ansah is actually amazing. I also noticed that the band was
very multi cultural as Ansah is part Ghanaian part English, I believe, the
drummer looked far eastern and the guy on the key board looked European. It portrayed one of the reasons I love the FOKN BOIS so much ...they want to
make good music regardless of where the influences come from and they’ve got
messages to put out there that is relevant to everyone. They don’t care if you're
white black or yellow, they’re just here to address and confront the bull crap
in this world in a way that either makes you love em or hate em, either way you’re
bound to listen and laugh at some point. Sextra terrestrial sex was also great
simply because of the soulful mellow nature of the song. Only Wanlov and Mensa
can talk about acid sweating aliens and make you want to rush home to your man
and make babies. It’s actually crazy! I think the highlight for me though was
when they performed pinch and had Tawiah (protégé of Mark Ronson) come on stage
to put a little vim into it and trust me she did. You can check Tawiah out on YouTube
or on twitter (@tawiahmusic).
All in all I had a really great night socialising with these
amazing artistes and getting to watch them live for the first time. Below are a
few videos and pics of the show and make sure you follow them on twitter if you
like them (@foknbois)
Also don’t forget MYHH tees are coming soon and I’ve already
got pre-orders so don’t miss out ;)
Wanlov and Mensa doing press ups
Famous in china
Wanlov and I
FOKN with Mensa
His feet are bare! its not a lie!
The dynamic duo just before action
No comments:
Post a Comment