It's an Afrobeat summer! Lewisham's Fox and Firkin are hosting Dele Sosimi and his Afrobeat Orchestra for a groovy, uplifting daytime festival.
The Fox and Firkin isn't just the place to be this summer, it's every summer. It's beyond impressive how a pub in Lewisham can keep bringing back acts like Normal Jay MBE and Craig Charles just for their garden parties. And now, Dele Sosimi, one of the greatest living Afrobeat bandleaders, brings his orchestra to the South East London garden.
For those who don't know, Afrobeat is the child of Fela Kuti, one of Africa's most important figures, who combined traditional African music and forms, with popular African genres like highlife, with the American genres of jazz and funk. And yet, the creation is distinctly African, cherry-picking Western popular genres where they fit into the African musical tradition.
The sound of Afrobeat is addictive: one-note grooves, polyrhythmic drums, call-and-response singing, and solo after solo. Everyone has their first Afrobeat awakening, when they discover what dance music should truly sound and feel like. Dele Sosimi's speciality is the keyboard, but with him he brings a tide of horn-players that define the genres marching-band-esque approach to dance.
This is the real way to enjoy the summer. Not at a crowded day-fest, not at a JBL-infested green space, and certainly not at a Boxpark. It's in a sunny pub garden, to the life-changing sound of Afrobeat. Your heart and feet will thank you after.