BURAKA SOM SISTEMA with A TRIBE CALLED RED at Wrongbar, Friday, January 13. Rating: NNNN
Friday night’s Buraka Som Sistema show at Wrongbar was a perfect opportunity for Ottawa’s A Tribe Called Red to add to their growing buzz.
The DJ trio played a welcome blend of dancefloor-friendly music – dubstep, moombahton, electro, soca, and lots of dancehall – throwing in their own original pow wow step songs to keep the teeming bar steamy.
The Lisbon-based sound system stepped on stage to the crowd chanting “Bu-ra-ka!”
Opening with recent single Hangover (Ba Ba Ba) set the tone for the manic, sexy, workout-paced performance that followed. It also demonstrated the hooky prowess of the Portuguese group: you might not understand emcee Blaya’s high-pitched rapping, but you can shout “ba ba ba” along with her.
Early singles Kalemba (Wegue Wegue), Yah!, and Sound of Kuduro slotted between newer songs had the sweaty, dancing crowd rapt. Pulsing bass anchored one song to the next. Buraka would benefit from a bigger stage next time more room for their percussion set-up and the three emcees to bounce around, and more room for the crowd to bootyshake on stage.
Read an interview with Buraka Som Sistema here.
