Youssou N'Dour at Zellerbach Hall Auditorium, November 7, 2015

Cal Performances presents Youssou N'Dour & Le Super Étoile de Dakar
2015-11-07
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94305
8:00 PM, Saturday, November 7, 2015

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:05 PM; lights down, announcements]

1. [8:08 PM] ?
2. [8:15 PM] ?
3. [8:19 PM] “Father Wemba”
4. [8:24 PM] ?
5. [8:32 PM] ?
6. [8:37 PM] ?
7. [8:41 PM] ?
8. [8:44 PM] ?
9. [8:51 PM] ?
10. [8:55 PM] ?
11. [9:03 PM] 7 Seconds
12. [9:10 PM] ?
13. [9:22 PM] New Africa
    [set ends 9:26 PM]
     
    Encore
14. [9:28 PM] ?
15. [9:36 PM] ? Dakar
16. [9:42 PM] ?
17. [9:48 PM] ?
18. [9:54 PM] ?
19. [10:03 PM] Kontanena
    [show ends 10:09 PM]

• Ibrahima Cisse: keyboards;
• Birame Dieng: harmony vox;
• Babacar Faye: percussion;
• Moustapha Faye: keyboards;
• El Hadji Faye: percussion;
• Moustapha Gaye: guitar;
• Jean-Jacques Obam Edjo'O: bass;
• Pascale Kalemeni-Kamga: harmony vox;
• Abdoulaye Lo: drums;
• Youssou N'Dour: percussion, vox;
• Papa Oumar Ngom: guitar;
• Alain Rodrigue Oyono: tenor saxophone, flute;
• Moussa Sonko: dancer;
• Assane Thiam: tama (small talking drum).

I was really looking forward to a hot dance tonight, but the ongoing efforts of the house staff to act as dance police really put a damper on my spirits. It's absolutely crazy to hire a high energy act like Youssou and then expect the audience to sit meekly and absorb the evening passively. Positively irrational! And stupidly, I allowed those external circumstances to upset my equilibrium. Next time, I shall expect such absurdity from the house!

As expected, the show was pretty high energy through and through: Babacar exhorted us to get up and clap and stomp and sing and dance from the very first song. And despite the efforts of the fun police to keep a lid on things, the crowd eventually asserted their will to dance and party. “You gotta show us that you're happy,” said Youssou at the end of the show, before leading the band into Kontanena (Happy) in order to close the show.

I wish I'd tried harder to transliterate some of the lyrics during the show … I feel bad listing so many unknowns. Oh well. Better luck next time!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!