Friday, April 20, 2012

Cat Empire

Last night seems so long ago. And thankfully my ears have stopped ringing. Went to see Cat Empire at Slim's last night. The last time I saw Cat Empire was about 6 years ago? I was amazed by the complexity of their sound and blending of so many different genres. Well, it seems they have absorbed another element - Senegalese rock. One white singer sounds very black. But it's not just that - it's the groove. This wall of complex upbeat sound - I even took out my earplugs to experience it all. For two hours! There were old favorites, and this new Senegalese-ish stuff. Solos by the brass players, the DJ working the turntable, the keyboardist... I think they have about 9 people in the band? Live is sooo much better than recorded. Again, a wall of amazing sound. What was really funny is that there were two distinct ages there - us older people (I'd say 46 and up) and teens/early 20's. One woman at our little cocktail thing was there with her teenage son. He found out about them on the internet and has been playing their music for months and saw they were coming, so his mom took him. "It's a school night, but so what. He can sleep through math class." How great is that? A link to one song. But it's recorded. I didn't search too hard for live stuff, but I'm sure you could find it. Enjoy!

3 comments:

Mel said...

Wow.......amazing.

And isn't it amazing that it's multi generational!
Very cool!

laura b. said...

Sounds like fun! I love live music...nothing compares. I will have to give these guys a good listen.

Tara said...

I never thought of sleeping through math class! I've been doing it all wrong!