Afroreggae, Barbican, London

The term "super group" generally refers to a band made up of members who have already had success with other projects. But this collective from Rio de Janeiro are quite a different kind of super group. For one thing there are 11 of them – groups that is, not members. All having splintered off from the original band, which formed in the early Nineties as an angry response to increasing police violence in the favelas.

All these bands work within poor and persecuted communities around the world, involving local children in art and music workshops. In fact, a sizeable proportion of tonight's audience are from several London schools who had been benefiting from the expertise and passion of the band for the past five weeks or so.

But are they any good as a band? Well, it has to be said that their latest album, Favela Rising, suffers from a generic hip-hop production, which, presumably, plays down the Brazilian side of their sound in an attempt to reach a wider audience. So there's no reason to be overly optimistic about tonight's gig, despite the fact the band supported the Stones earlier this year on Copacabana beach.

But as soon as the first musicians take to the stage – three young lads laying into their carnival hand-drums as if their lives depended on it – it's clear that live, AfroReggae are a different proposition. The machine gun rattle and thunder these drummers create with such choreographed precision, becomes the backbone and driving force for most of the set. And once the rest of this 18-piece outfit explode into life, it becomes apparent that they won't be taking any prisoners. By the third number the majority of the audience are out of their seats and dancing.

Their dazzling show is two parts colourful West End musical, to one partedgy, politically charged performance art. There are striking back projections of police brutality, fighting skeletons, and kitsch religious iconography.

Overall, AfroReggae's sound is as much rock as it is reggae, with a sizeable measure of 1970s brassy funk thrown in for good measure. "Mais Uma Chance" brings to mind their fellow countrymen Nacao Zumbi in its brooding stew of minor-chord rock and proselytising hip-hop. Only on one song, the soulful acoustic guitar-led ballad "Partida", does the pace let up for a moment.

A reggaefied and carnivalised "Imagine" makes an excellent encore. So, yes, AfroReggae are the antithesis of the personality-led super group, but in their will to save the world, they do deserve the title.