Baaba Maal, review, Union Chapel: His spectacular voice is as powerful as ever
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Senegal’s charismatic superstar Baaba Maal has visited Britain many times since bursting on the world music scene 30 years ago, but normally with a full electric band in tow.
It is therefore a rare treat to catch him performing virtually alone, with an acoustic guitar – and proving the decades have not withered his spectacular voice, which is as powerful as ever.
In London’s Union Chapel, perched beneath the stained-glass windows and before the pulpit in a shining, silver gown, Maal inevitably strikes something of a Christ-like figure and one with a message.
Several messages in fact – the limitless potential of his native continent, the importance of education, the transformational power of travel when it is a choice and not forced by brutal wars.
If that all sounds a bit heavy for a Friday night, don’t be fooled, because the rhythmic guitar work, the gorgeous melodies and that voice are the real highlights.
The setlist is a trip down memory lane, featuring only the title track from his recent return-to-form LP The Traveller, with old favourite "Baayo" perhaps the pick of the lot.
There is only one misstep – when an anecdote about his love of travel trips over into a rather embarrassing “joke” about how long women take to wash their hair, iron their clothes and get ready to go.
Quickly forgotten, it’s back to Maal’s finger-whirring majesty of the guitar and intense vocals – the intoxicating "Tara" is particularly lovely – before the crowd rises for a brief jamming session to see the evening out.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments