Credit: Photo by Sandy Carson

Antibalas

Friday, Sept. 26, Zilker Park

Afrobeat is deeply political music, and the current political climate has lit a fire under Antibalas. The 12-man Brooklyn army relished the irony of playing the WaMu tent the same day the banking giant went belly up, crafting a cover of Bob Marley’s “Rat Race” for the occasion and dedicating “War Hero” to all defunct financial institutions. “We need to get our priorities straight,” pleaded group founder and Texas transplant Martín Perna, calling for Gulf Coast hurricane victims to supersede Wall Street executives in any taxpayer bailout. Violent horn stabs punched through dense layers of percussion as saxman Stuart Bogie screamed the names of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld to a deafening chorus of “Indictment!” If you’re thinking a lecture doesn’t make for a fun-filled festival, no band laid heavier hitting funk grooves this weekend. If only canvassing for votes were such a blast.

This article appears in October 3 • 2008.

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Thomas Fawcett has been freelancing for The Austin Chronicle since 2007. He likes good music and does not fake the funk.