Grooving to French beats

The BBC Sound System, the local stars from Senegal performed to a packed audience in the City last week. Having moved from small pubs to the Olympia in Paris, BBC Sound System have toured the world. The evening saw them bringing an end to the French music festival in India. The sudden showers that evening, after a dry spell, brought cheer to many a Bangalorean. But the band had to wait for the rains to stop to begin. People were seen roaming around, waiting for the stage to set.

The crowd had a good mix of people, from youngsters who are regular listeners of hip-hop music to old people, who were looking forward to a change of pace from the regular classical sound. And everyone was pepped up about watching the three band members Kadou, Mansour and Mao perform on stage. The performance started half an hour late but nevertheless managed to engross the listeners.

The music was peppy and upbeat. While the songs were sung in French, they were full of many African melodies like Tassou (which is hip-hop music's origin), raga, hip-hop, soul and even salsa. As the members sang, it was quite a spectacle to watch their music bring out the multi-culture and multi-lingual traditions that exists in France. The music in its own way, was a coming together of cultures. The colourful lights and great weather made for a great party scene and soon people got on to their feet to dance to the beats of the music. The young and the old couldn’t help but shake a leg. “I came here expecting a French music concert so this music was quite a surprise. I am really enjoying the energy with which the band is performing,” said Chaitnaya, a professional.

But the peace was not meant to be and soon everything came to an abrupt end. Thunder clouds came over the venue bursting into a very strong rain and while the audience ran for cover, the band was forced to cut short its performance.

“It was great that it started raining today after so many months but sadly this concert had to end because of that. I was having so much fun with my friends,” said Jane, a
student.