There is a small, but not insignificant, chance that if Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra performed on a slow night, there'd be more people on stage than in the crowd. Touring with anywhere between eleven and fourteen members, and having recorded with a score more, Antibalas plays Afrobeat—music by the people, for the people.

That wasn't the case recently however, as the orchestra played to a packed Neumo's house (with the newly remodeled Moe's bar in place of the former Crystal Ball Room right next door). Space was at a premium among the gyrating listeners; late-comers had to watch the stage from the back of the room, as hot-bodied funk and Afrobeat filled the air and fueled the floor.

Afrobeat is, for those curious, a hybrid form of jazz and Nigerian traditional music that incorporates ideas from American funk and soul. Antibalas' version features a fantastic horn section, rubbery, ballistic bass, and more percussion than you can shake (or strike) a stick at. While we're breaking down the name, emphasis should be placed on "Orchestra." The band is most definitely not a jam band; the group has a leader, who conducts on-stage, and what solos there are do not go indefinitely. Songs may last ten to fifteen minutes, sure, but that's because they were written that way. The band was first assembled by Martin Perna, saxophonist and lyricist in Antibalas, in 1998. Seven members strong, the band played originals strongly influenced by Fela Kuti, the creator of Afrobeat. They were known as El Conjunto Antibalas (or The Bulletproof Ensemble).

Within a year, the group had instituted a name change, found a semi-permanent roster, and recorded its first single. Featuring Egypt 80 drummer Joj Kuo, the songs struck a chord in New York. Antibalas were soon tapped to open the first of seventy AFRICALIA! parties in Lower Manhattan, fetes designed to celebrate Afrobeat, and all musical styles African. After two tours of England, one slightly more unplanned than the other (that one, the first, had band members sleeping on floor of their dressing room), Antibalas returned to America and released their first album *Liberation Afrobeat Vol. 1* on independent Afrosound Records. As the 2000 presidential elections came and went, Antibalas went on a series of tours, signed a deal with Ninja Tune Records, and, in honor of President Bush, revived the Fela Kuti classic "Authority Stealing."

By 2002, the band had toured much of the European continent, delivering Afrobeat to the good people of Switzerland and the Netherlands. While cramped in the back of a ramshackle tour bus, they found time to record and release their second album. Following in the same vein as the band's first, *Talkatif* showed that Antibalas could sound as solid on record as it does live.

*Who is This America?*, the band's third release, came at the end of more touring, both within and outside the states. It also came at the end of their partnership with Ninja Tune. *Who …* was released on Ropeadope/Artemis records and features Antibalas' trademark grooves, gritty funk and fiery salsa, strong and sublime arrangements and overall undeniable talents.

Switching labels yet again, Antibalas released *Security*, their newest, earlier this year on ANTI-, home to Tom Waits and The Frames.

It was for this record that they recently returned to, and sold out, Neumo's.

The crowd was deep in the heat of the band: swaying, clapping, calling back and forth, and generally funking up the floor. And Antibalas gave it back with fervor; for a night, our night, just like every night they play, we were adoring worshipers as the Orchestra railed against corrupt politics, wailed in high, syncopated runs, and asked simply that we give ourselves to the moment.

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