Afrobeat ensemble Antibalas played a two-night hometown run at Brooklyn Bowl on Friday and Saturday. The shows featured support from Walk Talk on Friday and Innov Gnawa on Saturday, with DJ Henri spinning African records both nights.
The 12-piece funk band hosted a two-night dance party at the famed New York venue. At one point the horns even hopped down from the stage to play amongst the crowd. Vocalist Marcus Farrar took on the role of lead singer/frontman, shekere in hand, filling the position left open after the departure of longtime singer/percussionist Duke Amayo in 2021. The band has kept busy since then, gathering in Brooklyn in 2021 to compose two new albums worth of music and honing the material on the road touring the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Mexico this spring and fall.
Check out a gallery of photos from Antibalas at Brooklyn Bowl courtesy of photographer Ken Spielman.
Antibalas will play a two-night New Year’s Eve run at Bayside Bowl in Portland, MN on December 30th and 31st. The band will also perform at North Beach Music Festival in Miami Beach, FL on December 9th. For tickets and full list of upcoming shows, visit the band’s website. The group recently released a series of live archival recordings via the band’s YouTube channel.