On a cold Tuesday night in Notts, electronic Afro-funk masters Ibibio Sound Machine proved more than equal to the task of bringing warmth, joy and mirth to Rescue Rooms...
There is an odd football analogy that paints a picture of real talent. The phrase “can they play on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke” is bandied around to measure how great a performance is judged by. Before my arrival at the Rescue Rooms, I had the same sentiment as to how I was going to judge tonight’s performance. The cold bites me as I sip my lager while the tram fizzles by like a fuse of dynamite; any attempt to get warm is arduous with the electric heater constantly restarting. After over half an hour of waiting to be let in, doors finally open on to what promises to be an eclectic melody of music and culture.
Ibibio Sound Machine have been going since 2013 and have four accredited albums to their name. As a latecomer to their music I had no true sense of what to expect, I, like many people in their late 20s and upwards, dived into them thanks to airplay on 6 Music (the road from hereon in is paved to the inevitable destination of “6 Music dad” land – nothing to be ashamed about). Their fifth and latest record, Pull the Rope, expands on their quest to find, as band leader Eno Williams puts brilliantly, “hope in a world of darkness”.
The first thing that gazes into my eye is Williams’ radiant outfit. She is dressed in a regal silver robe with shimmering draped sleeves and a royal blue ankle-length skirt in a pattern typical of West African fashion. Her outfit is complete with a majestic Gele headpiece that asserts her status as the queen of the room with an obeying crowd happy to move to her beat. Her outfit would have certainly given Sun Ra a run for his money with a cosmic aura threaded within her costume. Similarly to Sun Ra, Williams has her own mini version of an Arkestra. She is accompanied by seven musicians all with the same goal of trying to impress the crowd and keep a harmonium through sound. This is a task that is only successful if the audience is willing to take part. Judging by the excited screams of the couple standing next to me, that would definitely be the case.
Williams’ voice and authority on stage is matched by the quality of her band with the seven accomplices each playing a vital part. From left to right there is a flurry of rhythmic ecstasy, especially with the percussionist, Afla Sackey, and his ensemble of cowbells, agogo bells and congas his hands are like fire moving swiftly in the room and you can’t help but want to have a go on them as they are that enticing.
The guitarist, Alfred Karl Bannerman, formerly of Ghanaian outfit KonKoma, shows his skill and charisma by providing riffs courtesy of a Wah Wah pedal that make your mind stand still and instead let your body pursue a course of its own and embark on groovy oscillations that define “get up and dance”.
The riffs have similar rings to those of Ernie Isley; they are free-flowing disco riffs that have this spiritual aura to them that, in my opinion, take me to a higher plateau.
Ibibio is a band that deals in the duality of the self, the identity of the human spirit and of human consciousness. This philosophy plays out in the preservation of the Ibibio language which is spoken only in parts of Southern Nigeria. The honour to their homeland makes them authentic as well as humble. The music performed in the Ibibio language is spiritual as it signifies a higher calling to a god, but to a higher sense of self image and the way that artistic expression propels this to the way in which the audience portrays them.
Williams confesses that she has a thing for Nottingham crowds. Every time she and the band come to play here there always seems to be a good response and affection for her talents as a frontwoman and stage presence. Everyone here is down for a party as she exclaimed to the audience “Let's get down tonight!” The raucous crowd is a sea of mirth and yonder, Nottingham has a party town reputation that sticks and shouldn’t be shaken off. The climax to the show edges out in an appraisal of all those involved. The band's talent is a sum of their equal parts and this shouldn’t be forgotten no matter how many people are included.
As I said at the start with my crass football analogy, true talent is only measured on whether a group can play on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke. We’re obviously not in Stoke, but the sentiment applies just as much here. Ibibio brought us the heat we desperately needed for a cold Tuesday night in Notts.
Ibibio Sound Machine performed at Rescue Rooms on 19th November 2024.
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