Sydney Opera House
Wednesday 6 March 2024
Photographer / Reviewer : Kevin Bull
What a joy it is to visit the Opera House, and to have the opportunity to catch Angelique Kidjo in the Concert Hall makes it Oh so sweet. The five time Grammy Award winner is back in Australia to celebrate her lengthy 40 year career, and the release of her most recent album, Mother Nature. With a sold out Concert Hall, it is a very much welcome return.
Performing in front of a crack four piece of bassist, keys, drums and percussionist, Kidjo took us on a musical journey into afro-beat, dance and world music, with a heavy dose off her aforementioned recent album, and…. Talking Heads. Yes, her 2018 re-imagining of Talking Head’s Remain In Light album is a must hear, and takes the album deep into the mother land. In fact, it took ‘Once In A Lifetime’, and the slightest of encouragement from Kidjo to get the reserved Opera House crowd to rise to their feet and move those hips.
Speaking of hips, Kidjo was full of energy and dance throughout the night, exuberant beyond what a 63 year old should be capable of. With her colourful hemline swirling as she spun and gyrated to the percussive beats, we applauded and yelped with joy. What she was feeling onstage was infectious.
Australia was an early supporter of Kidjo back in the early ’90s, with the iconic cover of Logozo featuring in many record collections. Wearing a zebra skin bodysuit on your album cover may help you get noticed, but there was an audible sigh of recognition when album cuts ‘Batonga’ and ‘We We’ arrived. The same can be said for 1994’s ‘Agolo’, the cut that was my introduction to Kidjo.
Overall, Angelique Kidjo was dynamite on stage, rhythms that just couldn’t be denied. Having previously seen her at Bluesfest in 2012, having to wait well over a decade for a second helping was way too long.
