Nov 25/07
Konomo Memories
Konomo No. 1 are a great band to see live. The driving rhythms, on-stage dancers and general charisma of the group make for a great show.
I first saw them in Paris two and half years ago, then again at the Couleur Café that summer.
If you’re lucky enough to have a good audience around you as I did on both occasions their shows turn into big dance parties.
Konomo made a splash when they first hit the international scene, particularly in the burgeoning audioblog scene circa mid-2005. Since then the hype has died down a bit, but they’re still touring and releasing new stuff. Above all they’re still a great live act.
The generous people at Crammed recently sent me a live recording of their performance at the Couleur Café festival in Brussels, Belgium.
To the left, a shot of Belgium kids in the Couleur café 2006 audience.. sweaty dancing fun.
Tags: congo, couleur café, crammed
[...] [Listen/Download MP3] Konono No. 1 – A.E.I.O.U [...]
Yo Matt,
Tout bon tout bon tout bon … ho what a gooooog memories !
Merci pour cette richesse musicale que tu nous offre..
A+
Xxx
Saw Konono #1 at Coachella last year. They had the whole place jumping. As you say, fantastic live!
Yes, saw them in Washington D.C. last spring and they were amazing.
ha! i win!!!
just got home from seeing them tonight!!! at the House of World Cultures Berlin. F.I.R.E. these people know how to party! insistent? infectious? intense? no words can be enough to describe the pure effortless energy… me and 30 or 40 people were dancing our fucking heads off the entire time at the front of the theater, while 2 hundred or more people just sat in their stupid seats. what’s wrong with white people??? don’t tell me they can’t dance. if an east asian (me) can give it up, lose it completely and freak straight for 2 hours like they WAS no tomorrow they can at the very least stand up and nod their heads a little. swing their hips a little. would it hurt to get just a little jiggy? it is a crime not to when a band like this is playing! it’s nothing to do with race, but culture (or lack there of). also fear and ignorance maybe.
sorry to ramble i’m a bit (or a lot) smashed
I saw them live in Pittsburgh at the Warhol Museum…a bunch of too-school-for-school hipsters got a lesson in dancing and amazing loud grooves. Definitely one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
I loved how inter-generational they were. The lead singer must have been in his 60s, but there were some young teenagers in the group too, looking a bit scared and bewildered. I spoke to them a bit afterwards, telling them they were fantastic, and they just opened up and were so happy to know that people enjoyed it.
I also got to speaking to the rest of the band afterwards, who said I should marry one of their daughters, who would teach me to dance. I exclaimed that I had been dancing in the front row and they all laughed and said “we saw you dancing like a maniac out there, but you need to learn how to REALLY dance!”
But yeah, they were absolutely brilliant.
[...] first saw Konomo No. 1 live in 2005 at the New Morning in Paris, then again at that epic show at 2007’s Couleur Café, then again last week at the Cabaret Sauvage, this time along with the Kasai All-Stars and Staff [...]