THE LONDON ASTROBEAT ORCHESTRA LIVE AT SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH
The London Astrobeat Orchestra made a triumphant return to Summerhall tonight, packing out The Dissection Room and dazzling the audience with their West African take on the Talking Heads songbook. John Scott was there for HiFi PiG.
Outside, it’s a chilly Edinburgh evening but with the first notes of Burning Down The House we are transported to a long, hot Congolese night, full of sinuous grooves and non-stop dancing. Julian Burdock on lead vocals, guitar and electronics, provides a rootsy, bluesy counterpoint to Jeannot Bel’s intricate filigree guitar lines while Mosi Conde’ kora floats an extra layer of rhythmic intensity on top. This multi-stringed interplay is anchored by tight, propulsive drumming from Felix Ngindu and ever-changing melodic basslines from Edd Bateman. In the hands of less skilled musicians, this could end up as a hot mess but these guys leave enough space to allow the music to groove.
All of the songs played tonight are now more than forty years old and only one, Once In A Lifetime, was a hit. While some of us in the audience are old enough to remember them the first time around, many are not. It’s pleasing and surprising to see some of the youngest audience members singing along, word-perfect, to even some of the more obscure songs in the setlist. 
The band stretch out Life During Wartime, Once In A Lifetime and Girlfriend is Better. Mosi whips up the audience with some cowbell syncopation, jumping down into the crowd to conscript a willing bunch of volunteers for an on-stage danceathon.
After a well-deserved break, Julian returns to the stage. A song emerges from a looped rhythm guitar riff and a bed of electronic percussion. Mosi sparks off some kora licks and Julian adds a lead guitar line while scat singing on top. It’s Psycho Killer, Jim but not as we know it. They are joined by the rest of the band and move into This Must Be The Place, picking up the pace as they go. The King Of The Cowbell is back and can’t resist getting down among the audience again.
The evening tops off with Take Me To The River featuring some fabulous drum fills from Felix before the familiar Edinburgh encore chant of “One more tune!” brings the band back for a joyous Road To Nowhere. As the band leaves the stage, a young lady beside me with a huge grin on her face declares this to be the best night of her life. Right now, in the moment, it’s impossible to disagree.
Setlist
Burning Down The House
Life During Wartime
Once In A Lifetime
Girlfriend Is Better
Psycho Killer
This Must Be The Place
Slippery People
Take Me To The River
Road To Nowhere
John Scott
