BANTU and Jean-Paul Bourelly rock Yaba rooftop

“If you know people who can hold the rain in your village, please call them,” said Ade Bantu, leader of the band.

The last time the band changed locations, holding its first quarterly show at the Muri Okunola Park in June, it was plagued by rain. So, as the cloud darkened and air cooled on the roof-top of CcHUB, a tech incubation hub, sound engineers lifted their heads and readied their hands on the equipment. There was a slight drizzle just before the start of the show, causing momentary panic, but in the end, the night proceeded without interruption.

Atypical for a BANTU concert, the event started an hour and half late. Initially, the band urged the crowd to come forward, a routine for the often enthusiastic Afropolitan Vibes crowd the band is familiar with. What wasn’t normal was the reluctance of the crowd to get closer to the band, until many songs into the show.

At a point, Ade Bantu wondered if the lack of alcohol was responsible for the audience’s reluctance. “CcHUB said we should not sell palm wine, so people will not sing R Kelly,” he said. Indeed, CcHUB rooftop is close enough to the sky to elicit a desire to fly in those unskilled in holding down alcohol.

But music is a stimulant in its own right, and eventually the crowd got into the spirit of the Agberos and Agberesses, as BANTU band self-identifies. While they didn’t sing along with chants like “kolawole oko ashewo” like the Afropolitan Vibes crowd would as the band performs 'Má Kó Bámi', by the time the band got to 'Lagos Jump', the fifth number on the night, the crowd was already moving. 'Lagos Jump' was followed by a medley of Fela Kuti’s songs, which was perfect for activating docile members of the audience.

The night was also slightly different, because, in line with their democratic nature, more members of the 13-piece band led songs—a task usually reserved for the band’s four vocalists. Opeyemi Oyewande, the band’s trumpeter, and percussionist Wurasamba both led folk and highlife numbers respectively.

The band was loose, relaxed, even a little more than they usually are during the Afropolitan Vibes concerts series. They cracked inside jokes, repeated the coda for 'Nzobu' so the audience could hear the band’s lewd twist to it and, perhaps, because of this, the night’s best moment was borne of spontaneity. Haitian-American guitar legend Jean-Paul Bourelly, who had been gently bobbing head during the show, joined the band while it performed an EDM song written by the band’s pianist. Bourelly's guitar solo was shocking in its dexterity, the clear work of a virtuoso delivered to an unwitting crowd without an introduction to preface its wonder. The crowd howled, some stood agape. Many raised their phones to capture the expressive solo that played on for about five minutes.

The band then led the crowd in a mini-dance fest, the final act of the night. It wasn’t even 9pm yet, so a Lagos Friday night had yet to begin.

If at the start of the show, there were skeptics in the ability of BANTU to deliver a wonderful live experience, they were readily converted as the band closed the session and a reluctant audience dragged their feet off the rooftop. They would have to find other places to continue TGIF-ing, but no matter where they ended, they'd probably spread the gospel of the goodness of the Agberos International.