Together with eight singers/dancers, seven musicians and two additional vocalists, Fally Ipupa showed himself to be one of the strongest headliners Couleur Café has ever had on Friday night.
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Finally there was a really large Congolese orchestra on stage, without wind players (which you rarely hear in the rumba and soukous that rule Kinshasa) but with the archetypal tinkling guitar work and the equally recognizable clattering drums.
In the first part of the show, Fally and his orchestra returned to popular Congolese music from the second half of the 20th century, the infectious combination of undulating rumba and rousing soukous. That means long songs with melancholic, in this case eight-part harmony vocals, and many synchronous dance steps. Fally himself started out as a dancer in such orchestras and still likes to show his moves, loudly encouraged by one of the masters of ceremonies, another recognizable Congolese phenomenon.
– Photo: Koen Bauters
There was always something happening on stage, also with the lighting, as well thought out as the singing and dancing. It’s not because there are so many on stage that there can be no order. Fally Ipupa directs his orchestra with a firm hand, as he has professionally arranged his entire career, thus becoming one of the greatest African artists of his generation.
Autotune as a bonus
New was the autotune on the voice. Fally uses the technique not only in the studio but also live, and he gets away with it. In the first place because he sings so cleanly, of course. Then autotune is just a kind of make-up, a certain color that you add to a song. For the rest, the role of the electronics fortunately remained rather limited and the singer went all out for instrumental accompaniment.
The many thousands of Congolese fans effortlessly sang along to Fally’s great hits at his request. Even more enthusiastic were the many women who were helped on stage to perform a sensual dance with their idol. Also a phenomenon that we recognized from the time of Papa Wemba, Zaiko Langa-Langa and other legendary Congolese orchestras. In our opinion it took an excruciatingly long time before all the ladies were reviewed, but the audience loved it, especially in the first hundreds of rows.
It was the first day of the festival after three years and with Fally Ipupa we were immediately served a memorable show, musically outstanding, visually a feast, internationally successful and yet highly authentic. Typical Couleur Café, quoi.
Fally Ipupa, seen at Couleur Café on June 25, 2022
*****
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