MikePadgett.com

Manu Chao in Concert

Serendipity. That’s what I thought when I managed to secure a couple of tickets for J and I to see Manu Chao on his short tour of the UK with the Radio Bemba Sound System.

J’s sister had left behind one of those hefty weekend newspaper supplements and I’d spotted the ad for Chao’s dates, of which I’d been hitherto totally unaware, promoting his new album La Radiolina.

Thanks to a well-worn copy of the first solo album Clandestino owned by my French colleague Pierre, José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao first popped into my consciousness in 2001.

And though Pierre is now long gone, Manu never left.

Since he was finally here in the UK with Radio Bemba, we didn’t want to miss him, even if that meant rolling up our sleeves and driving to Manchester.

The gig was a bit of a surprise. I’d heard that Chao had supported Rage Against The Machine during the United States leg of his tour, but it was clear from the opening song that he’d been taking notes.

It wasn’t really possible to see the reactions of other fans – we spent the whole gig out of our seats – but I imagine that others will have felt the same surprise. The 46-year old’s recordings are all about world music, reggae and cut-and-paste simplicity.

This was thrashing electric guitars and double-time punk. I said to Justine before the gig got started that a brass section would have been a joy, but now I understood why that would have been unnecessary!

On the night, Radio Bemba consisted of regulars Gambit (bass), Madjid (astounding on lead guitar) and David on drums.

Percussion may or may not have been provided by Philippe Teboul (a little hard to say) who was a member of Chao’s previous band Mano Negra and who worked again with the latter on the Amadou et Mariam album Dimanche à Bamako (2004).

The Apollo’s sound setup was rather poor and the louder moments were just a racket, really, but the concert was generally a success, ending in no less than three encores.

It transpired that Chao had reworked many of his mellower numbers into punk rockouts with inexplicable ease, including such laidback favourites Merry Blues and Me Gustas Tu.

Among Chao’s instantly recognisable tracks (Welcome to Tijuana, Clandestino) several had also undergone considerable alteration, often putting a new and unusual spin on the original songs.

The band kept up the energy right through the gig and the fans certainly appreciated it. A brilliant if rather bamboozling performance.