(9/30) ZAP MAMA & PLATINUM PIED PIPERS @ THE BLACK CAT!!!
(9/30) ZAP MAMA & PLATINUM PIED PIPERS CATALYZE THE BLACK CAT, THIS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th.

This Friday, the colossal collective of Zap Mama returns to DC to unleash a show of sensual ferocity. Helmed by the grand dame Marie Daulne, who was born in Zaire, Zap Mama's captivating stage show of music and movement has inspired artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Fertile Ground.

Zap Mama's fifth album, Ancestry in Progress is an experience in global soul. With help from soul siren Erykah Badu (on "Bandy Bandy"), hip-hop royalty Common and Talib Kweli (on "Yelling Away"), and other members of the Roots' Philly massive, Ancestry in Progress further establishes Zap Mama as a main fuse in the continuing musical re-unification of the Pan-African Diaspora.

As such, it is fitting that the Detroit collective of Platinum Pied Pipers will open for the Afropean crew of Zap Mama. The Platinum Pied Pipers have spent years producing groove-laden tracks for Dwele and Slum Village before releasing their debut disc, "Triple P." Get to the show early to check out their opening set that will feature the crowd pleasers -- "Stay With Me" and "Shotgun".

Hosting the evening will be none other than the poetic-sprite of the Blackout Studios-Fertile Ground camp, Olu Butterfly. And on the one and twos, rocking the floor with the four, will be the party-rocka, DJ Underdog.

It All Goes(WENT) Down...

Friday September 30th
@ The Black Cat - 14th & S Streets NW
Doors Open @ 9:30PM/ Show Starts @ 10PM Sharp/ Groovin' All Ages
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First of all, I need 2 state: HOUSE MUSIC LIVES! oKAY. Now for my review:

I realize that TECHNICALLY, this belongs in The Lesson, but my review is more related to this thread, in terms of what I have to say about it: This show was INCREDIBLE. Literally a Force of Nature w/n itself.
I was thinking the whole time, "Where's Lex M, w/ her Feminine Divine post, when U need her?" Made me proud 2 B a woman. I had never seen this group before live, and lemme state, I've really been missing out. They apparently come 2 my area every year tho', so I need 2 keep my ear 2 the streets, 2 make sure I get 2 see them again. FIRST off, the lead singer, Marie Daulne, I just can't say enough good things about her. She is like, the EPITOME of, everything this thread speaks 2. The group, as a Collective, channelled Goddess Energy, and unleashed it unabashedly on D.C. & it was Beautiful. I've never seen anything like it, not even at a WNBA game, which is another manifestation of the Feminine Divine, through physical activity. This was WAAAY Powerful. After awhile, I went to the back of the club, on a platform, just so I could observe the audience's reaction to what the group was exuding. What struck me the most, was the reaction of the men. Now granted, some of them were gay couples, so they were I guess, tapping into their own InnerGoddess in their own way. Men who were w/ their Queens too, just....seemed entranced, AND enhanced, by the whole vibe. & not in an insecure way, either. Kind of like, in submission to the Great Blak Mother, as Suzar would say. *see Blak Man Is God post for Suzar ref.* I was just, so surprised to see that type of reaction too, particularly from the Brothahs.
Anyhow, back to the group. Their bass player even, is a woman, I believe from Europe. She would give Rhonda Smith a run for her money on ANY day, she was just THAT fonky. Then there is a keyboard player, who is a self-proclaimed Pygmie, who can BLOW, like....like Chaka, like.....Erykah, but then the back-up singers could also, especially the white(European) one, I mean, got D***!
Then, the kicker, was that they did Afrikan House, Hip Hop,dub Reggae, Lingala, Ndombolo, a lil' rock-n-roll, and the Erykah Badu-assisted song that I love w/ a passion: Bandy Bandy. They even did a lil' drum-n-bass mini-set, w/in the context of their Afrikan music, and Reggae set. I REALLY can't stand d-n-b, but couched w/in that Afrikan musical context, I at least came to appreciate it. Their guitar player, was an Afrikan male, so he helped bring the rhythms during the Afrikan music set. I mean, it was just awe-inspiring. They had a male to do the call-and-response on the dub-set, and I just....LOVED it.
They did not sell any CDs either(not that I fault Triple P for pushing product-I was able to cop Dwele's original mix-tape that way). Their table was wholly devoted to women's rights literature: preventing fistulas in Africa, etc. I was really moved, and enlightened by the whole experience. Zap Mama's music, just like the Roots, is too BIG to be confined to vinyl (or titanium). U've got 2 see it LIVE. AT LEAST once.