Concert at the Esplanade - Youssou N'Dour and the Super Etoile

This concert was absolutely fabulous. First, the concert hall is beautiful. Although not as large as I imagined the smaller size gave it an intimate feel that was accented by the warm hard woods and the luxurious seating. I was sitting with my Finnish friend, Minna, and we were located in “student” seats on the first balcony. What's interesting is that these seats were lined up in a circle all sitting front to back, not side to side. However, the seats were not fixed in place so we angled our chairs nicely and had the opportunity to talk and have a perfect view of the concert. Luckily enough, our seats were not needed very much.

The concert began with Susheela Raman, BBC World Music Award winner for Best Newcomer. An English born, Australian raised, Indian she sang most of her songs in Tamil and mixed traditional songs from Tamil Nadu with new songs written by members of her band. She has a rich deep voice with the range of a talented opera singer but a style reeking of soul and jazz. Her music has a rich spiritual nature to it and an ethereal style.

As good as Susheela was, Youssou and the Super Etoile were on a whole other level. All in all, there were 11 performers on stage all night long. Youssou, an African tenor, provided the lead vocals with backup from his band and a solo female vocalist. The musicians consisted of two fellows on lambe drums (similar to bongos) and backup vocals, one playing the talking drum (tama drum), another on a typical western drum set, two guys playing keyboards, two lead guitars, and a bass. Each of the musicians were good enough to have a concert of their own, but their ability to match rhythms and complement the other instruments was amazing. During certain songs there was a dancer who would come on stage and gyrate as I have never before. I swear she doesn't have a solid bone in her body. Every member of the group was dressed in beautiful African robes adorned with bright colors and eye-catching patterns.

The performance was phenomenal. Several songs would blend together and the African rhythm driven by the strong percussion melded with Youssou's powerful voice. Within a short time the high energy performance had the audience out of our seats, dancing in the aisles, and clapping along. Few songs were observed from a seated position. Once again, the majority of the music was based in a different language, but it was powerful message that transcended this barrier.

One of my favorite songs was called Africa and Youssou commented that too often people focus on AIDS, poverty, and disparity and forget about the joy and happiness that exists throughout the continent. Youssou is a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations, and an Ambassador to UNICEF. He has been involved with concerts that range from celebrating Nelson Mandela's freedom to raising money for children living with AIDS. Youssou is able to celebrate the best qualities of African culture while helping to address endemic problems that plague the continent.

I can't remember a concert that I've enjoyed as much as this one. It was a truly spectacular and uplifting experience.The crowd gave long standing ovations and the group played 3 encores.

For more information on Youssou go to www.youssou.com.