Femi Kuti headlines in Madrid with an unstoppable Afrobeat

Yesterday, Femi Kuti became Madrid’s king of the night, as the master of ceremonies during a frenetic whirlwind of afrobeat that won over more than 12,000 people. Gathered at África Vive, a concert that has been held in Madrid for the third year running and that offered its neighbours and visitors the freshest and most powerful African rhythms. The 12,000 loyal followers of rhythm were able to enjoy Kuti with his voice, sax and keyboard together with the overwhelming direct performance of his legendary band, The Positive Force.

The concert’s third edition organised by Casa África with the collaboration of UCM and Casa Mediterráneo, was backed by a line-up of young groups headed by Fela Kuti's son: the two winning groups from the Cape Verde Vis à Vis Festival, the surprising hip-hop of ExPavi and the impeccable reggae with a hint of afro from the Domu Afrika Dub Squad; the refreshing and  reliable pop from the Senegalese Takeifa and the fusion of Arab sounds with the rock,  ska and  jazz that Babeloued Sound controls. After them, Kuti set the África Vive stage alight. This is an ambitious initiative with which Casa África has been celebrating Africa day since 2009 by carrying out an extensive programme of social, political, sporting, cultural and economic activities in about twenty Spanish and African locations.

Last night's concert was carried out encouraged with tapas made from African food proposed by the project Africa in the Kitchen  that CEAR Habitáfrica and Casa África share and that included dishes like Cameroon banana fritters and Guinean chicken in peanut sauce.

The aim of these five hours of free African music is to contribute in improving knowledge about our neighbouring continent in our country and to show, once again what is already a fact: that Africa and Spain are increasingly closer.