The original Shrine was one of the most celebrated, if sometimes dangerous, music venues in Africa. Founded by the late Fela Kuti as an "abode of the spirits", where he could play his controversial songs without too much hostility from the authorities, it was a seething nightclub on the outskirts of Lagos, where scantily clad dancers performed in cages and marijuana sellers camped around the doors. The furious, inspired Afrobeat sessions often continued until dawn, unless interrupted by raids by the Nigerian police.
The London version is a cheerfully experimental but more conventional affair. Shrine nights at Cargo are devoted to Kuti's legacy and the promotion of African styles, old and new. They are the perfect setting for Adesose Wallace, the Nigerian percussionist and leader of London-based African band Ibile. African musical exiles in London have never achieved the status of their famous counterparts in Paris, but Wallace has persevered in promoting his homegrown fusion of African styles, gradually widening the audience for his ever-changing band.
These late-night Shrine sessions were an exhaustive display of Wallace's different styles. He first came on as part of the Shrine Synchro System, adding live talking drums and hand drums to the Afro-funk beats provided by Shrine DJ Max Reinhardt, and backing the impressive female singer Shingai. But the System's long set was merely a warm-up, and Wallace was back, just before midnight, for his main performance of the night, this time with Ibile. Now a seven-piece band, they set out to provide their own take on a range of styles, mostly west African, with the odd echo of South Africa or the Caribbean thrown in.
Furious dance styles were matched against more gentle, acoustic sections in which Wallace switched from drums to a variety of traditional African instruments. The starting point was Kuti's Afrobeat, with its mixture of funk and African rhythms, chanting choruses and lengthy instrumental breaks.
Wallace was singer as well as percussionist, and there were times when he tried to do too much. He did not have Kuti's vocal power or charisma, but the results were still rousing, thanks to a sturdy horn section and some rapid-fire guitar work from Phil Dawson. And the variety and energy were impressive, as Ibile moved on to dance songs and sections where Wallace played the goje, the desert violin, or the west African version of the mbira thumb piano, and then moved back to more furious Afrobeat drumming, still showing no signs of tiring.
