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Ladysmith Black Mambazo rocks concertgoers
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The Bagder Herald, Ladysmith Black Mambazo rocks concertgoers >>
Ladysmith Black Mambazo filled Overture Hall with their signature blend of humor, harmonies and hopefulness Tuesday night in support of their new album, Long Walk To Freedom.
The South African group is world-renowned for its timeless a cappella music, which is based off the traditional isicathamiya style of singing. Ladysmith’s sound perfectly evokes the feel of the South African gold and diamond mines where it was born, utilizing male voices to create booming harmonies and chant-like lyrics.
The group is perhaps best known for recording with Paul Simon in the mid-’80s on the album Graceland, which produced the hit “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.” They referenced the landmark album at one point in the show but otherwise stuck mostly to material off their new CD.
The first set started off slowly, as the singers were in no hurry to get the audience pumped up. The show wasn’t structured like a typical rock concert, with the singers often leaving the stage after each song.
They didn’t focus too much on showmanship, they just did what they do best — create rich, moody harmonies that always sound distinctly African, whether they’re singing in English or any of a number of South-African languages. In fact, Ladysmith would often jump from language to language within a song, emphasizing their international message of optimism.
As inhabitants of a country that has 11 official languages, the members of Ladysmith know all about the concept of a “language barrier,” a fact they made light of between songs. While introducing a song that won’t be named here, due to its nearly unpronounceable African title, the group asked the audience to say it along with them.
After the dutiful audience lamely struggled to reproduce the completed clicks present in the song title, the group was quick to joke around: “No, I can’t hear you,” one singer deadpanned in a thick South-African accent.
Between each song, group leader Joseph Shabalala or one of the other group members would often explain its meaning. The message was sometimes funny — the moral of one song was: “When you have a problem, don’t worry, just leave it to someone else to solve” — but more often poignant. Themes ranged from the fledgling democracy in South Africa to the worldwide problem of poverty.
The Long Walk To Freedom track “Halala” told of South Africa’s troubled past in beautiful harmonies that were the highlight of the first half. The album takes it name from the last line of the song, which was repeated until it seemed to echo off the Overture’s walls.
Overture Hall was the perfect venue for the group, easily amplifying the vocals without distorting the sound. The low end was balanced but still heavy, giving the singers the solid base their sound relies on.Every note could easily be heard in the nosebleed section, even when the singers moved away from the microphones to dance. The singers used this to their advantage, backing away from the mics and gradually moving back toward them as they danced, creating a spectacular fade-out effect.
Ladysmith’s dancing was just as impressive as the vocal harmonies. The singers often danced in sync but managed to avoid the cheesiness of a choreographed boy band moves. Everyone in the group was dressed in black pants with bright white shoes, making it easy to see their high-kicking dance stepsThe dancing was what made the show truly worthwhile, since the simple strong structures can seem repetitive after a while.
During the second set, Ladysmith took the dancing up a notch, making the last half far more energetic than the first.One song after the intermission, the group told the story of their collaboration with Paul Simon before launching into “Homeless,” a haunting tune about life on the streets off Graceland.
They finished the concert with a Zulu dance song. Midway through the tune, the singers started clapping as they sang, and soon the whole audience was clapping along. Once they established a steady rhythm, the singers took turns heading to the front of the stage to dance.
The traditional dance moves featured a unique style of high stepping, with the dancers often kicking high above their heads. After a long dance section, the singers changed their claps to hand motions as they danced off the stage one by one.The audience wasn’t ready to see them go, and eventually called them back on for an encore of “Amazing Grace/Nearer My God To Thee.” The spirituals were recognizable, but somehow the group made them sound distinctly Ladysmith.
Overall, the show could have used more dancing and clapping, since the strong rhythm of the singers voices wasn’t always enough to get the audience going. On this last song, however, the voices alone brought the crowd to its feet for a standing ovation.Shabalala came back out alone to sing the final notes of the night. His voice has weakened only slightly with age, though he has presided over the group long enough to see four of his sons become old enough to join Ladysmith. It was still strong enough to sing the last three words of the night, words that sum up the entirety of Ladysmith’s message: “Love, peace and harmony.”
-Alec Luhn 03/03/06 >> go there
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