Babylon Circus (France)
As a true musical menagerie, 10-piece big band Babylon Circus has reached far beyond its ska-punk inspiration to embrace spirited French chanson, funk, Afrobeat and dancehall reggae, spiced with a healthy dollop of European folklore, rakish humour and big-top energy to arrive at a compelling spectacle. It started in Lyon, France, during 1995, when singers David Baruchel and Manu Nectoux devised a racy sound mainly fuelled on punk energy and hot with defiant social anthems sung in French and English – sometimes both in the same song. David explains that their rebel yell is “a way to fight, to be active in today’s society rather than a victim”. It’s a sentiment that rang loudly in their 2004 breakthrough hit ‘Dances of Resistanc’e, backed by the group’s sense of adventure that took them to perform in Damascus during the Iraq war among 900 concerts staged in 30 countries. With Georges on guitar, Olive on keyboards, Dadé on drums, Basile on bass, Rimbaud on accordion and saxophone, Laurent on trumpet and Clément on trombone, Babylon Circus present a live show that these gypsy dancehall punksters still inject with grand theatrical flair.
By arrangement with Top Shelf Productions
Website: www.babyloncircus.com