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Live at The Village recap....

March 6th @ The Carnivore's Simba Saloon

Live at the Village is back! And this time it’s here to stay!Welcome words for connoisseurs of an authentic Afro-fusion style who’s increasing popularity is undoubtedly growing. This event had become a staple in 2006, but merely teased in 2007. Now it’s back, and every first Thursday of the month, the Carnivore’s Simba Saloon will be the place to be.

Kijiji front-man Kanjii Mbugua hosted this time around, and as always was a great delight. Conspicuously absent was the Villagers band; this time Kanjii spotted a brand new band. Led by Livingstone Katingima, vocals were helmed by Jack Gaitara and VUC’s Lily Karanja. As always, Kanjii was highly energetic and performed songs Set Me Free, The One, What If, Salvation and others. Great inventiveness was shown on songs such as Honk the Horn, a song that takes a dig at, amongst others, people who relieve themselves on the side of the road. Others were a creative take on Michael Jackson’s Human Nature, and, Domestics. Featuring none other than Carol Atemi, it takes at a light-hearted look at conflicts in relationships. While the ladies get upset when “Austin slaps Kerry on Days of our Lives”, the men are guilty when they “spend more time watching Arsenal than listening”. Hilarious!

Aaron on the Keys

The crowd

An interesting observation was made by one of the revelers at the event – “this concert really started happening before the last song. True. Because just as the audience was invited to join in on the last song, the dance floor filled up, and the eager crowd totally refused to let Kanjii and the band go – and we don’t use the word refuse lightly, they kept crying for encore after encore. Being the master of improv, Kanjii called up part of the Villagers Band and inadvertently turned this open and non-threatening environment into an impromptu praise & worship event. More than forty minutes later, a whole new set had been improvised. It included, Leo, Under the Rock, The One, and a whole raft of dance moves that even though should be getting tired by now, are still amazingly effective. Yet with all of Kanjii’s oomph and inventiveness, the event does have a minor drawback. Kanjii has no solo album of original material (he does have a compilation album of some of his best work with Milele, Eric Wainaina and Mavuno), and he is not on stage half as often as his fans would like – as such, fans do not know his repertoire, leaving his music with less sing-along appeal. As such, it’s left to his energy and inventiveness do it for him. So even though it might not be as polished as say, an Eric Wainaina event, anyone who is looking to, in the words of the legendary Fred Obachi Machoka, shaky leggy, will find Live at the Village great value for money. Our advise? Keep April the 3rd 2008, the next edition of Live At The Village, available. Because for only three hundred bob (subject to change), there is hardly think of a better way to spend your money.

Lily Karanja

Livingstone on the guitars

Carol Atemi

Kanjii

(All content courtesy of www.mwafrika.com)