Bourbon Street?

Last week Friday I went to Gil Vicente Cafe, which is some sort of a jazz & blues cafe. It is exactly what you expect in such a bar. It is dark with small wobbly tables, thick smoke, some pimpin' dudes wearing sunglasses sitting in the corner and ladies running around serving mostly whiskey. For a second there I though I was in New Orleans, but the floor was dry (I know... that's a nasty joke).

They had a large projector screen hanging from the ceiling and a U2 concert DVD was on. The small flyers on our table said that a band named Projecto Africa would play live at 22:30. In the meanwhile, Bono & co had the honour of being the support act. Yawn! For some reason, listening to Sunday Bloody Sunday in a city which was terrorised by a civil war for many years just doesn't have the same effect. I do agree that U2 made (and still makes) some great classic songs, but the concert is so boring. Every song is played almost exactly as it is on the album. No different arrangements or cool solos. Then again, they can't all be as talented as Prince.... (O2 Arena, here I come!).

Around 22:50, as The Edge almost drove me over it (get it?), the Projecto Africa band members took the stage and that was the end of U2. No mo' Bono! At first I was not really impressed with this band. The first song sounded a bit cheesy, but once these guys got warmed up, they really started sending some serious African vibes around the room! Great bass lines, long whiny guitar solos and of course, ass kickin' drums!

The place started looking even more like a Louisiana blues joint from the 30's. The men in black were still sitting behind a glass of whiskey while smoking a cigar, but now their heads were slowly moving rhythmically side by side, a bit like watching Stevie Wonder in slow motion. And in between the tables, women in short dresses were dancing. The overall scene was just simply sexy. Not in an erotic way, but just ....cool!

During the break the projector screen came down again and we got a piece of, believe it or not, the Queens birthday concert. I'm not talking Dutch artists playing in Amsterdam in front of drunk oranges, but serious stiffness in front of Buckingham Palace. There's nothing more contrasting to the scene I had just witnessed, than following it up with images of Prince Charles trying to be cool on that stuffed dinosaur Tony Bennett (official Latin name: Tonysaurus Ex).

At least that scene was followed with Annie Lennox doing Why live, which is a highlight of any concert. she stole the scene behind the piano during Live 8 and did it again at this show.

The break ended and the local heroes took the stage again. This time just three of them sitting on chairs next to each other with just a piece of cardboard on their laps. What followed was percussion ecstasy. They did all different styles of African rhythms and solos and the place really went crazy. The Stevies were speeding up their movements and the women started to grind it! Heads and butts were bopping left and right. To quote Olav Mol (you Dutch F1 followers will know this): "Man Oh Man! Man Oh Man!". When they finally stopped I was out of breath... and I hadn't even participated!

This lasted some 20 minutes and then they all took their original positions to play the rest of the set. Obviously the room had been heated up sufficiently for all to dance the rest of the night away. What a cool night!

PS: If you never saw Annie Lennox do a live rendition of Why, then please do your eyes and ears a huge favour and check it out here!