Belated William Onyeabor Musical Delight (Feat. Floating-Heads)

OK so it's a pretty late review, but we've been busy leading a cosmopolitan lifestyle (visiting grandma's house, spring cleaning, discussing the best filler for homemade draught excluders, etc - standard). But better late than never, so here's a cheeky write up of the glorious musical escapades of "Atomic Bomb - Who Is William Onyeabor".

In what seems to be Bristol Whipped's season of Colston Hall adventures we found ourselves lucky enough to be attending this celebration of Nigerian "synth pioneer" enigma of a man - William Onyeabor.
Even the event itself asked the question on everybody's lips - Who Is William Onyeabor?
After self-releasing 8 (pretty exclusive) synthesiser-led Afrobeat music albums in the late 70's & early 80's in south-eastern Nigeria, Onyeabor became a born-again Christian and dissolved from the music scene, leaving behind a legacy of great music and great mystery. To this day his post-music life remains a hazy riddle.

In 2013 the compilation album "Who Is William Onyeabor" was released by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label, as a finale to the 5 year journey of trying to track this man of mystery down. And the evening we were lucky enough to attend was a celebration of this album, the journey, and of Onyeabor's influence to the world of music, performed by a whole host of fans and familiar names.

Now I'm no music critic, so if you want actual words of wisdom on that then I would have to point you in the direction of actual IRL music aficionado Sammy Jones and her review on the same event.

But what I can provide you with myself is irrelevant commentary and bizarre pictures (can anyone figure out what's going on in those floating-head magic-eye visuals??) - that's what you're here for right? No? Well sucks to be you, because that's what you're going to get:

- Ghostpoet: Such dancing, much shoe shine, so dapper!
- Lijadu Sisters: My favourite part was their amaze sparkly red outfits - they looked like glorious dragons!
- Alexis Taylor: Oh if only we could all carry off such a strong look! And a great voice to add on to many of the songs.
- Kele Okereke: Great to see him there and I appreciated his brightly coloured shirt, but there was a slight look in his eye that reminded me of a rabbit being petted slightly too hard by an excited child...

Plus so many more lovely guests and highlights! Personal high point for me has to be Money Mark (Beastie Boys) bossing it on keys. Ooh, so much funk for a Wednesday evening!

Needless to say the crowd had a jolly old time and even though we may be no closer to figuring out who William Onyeabor is, we can at least come away being a little more acquainted with his music!
If you haven't checked him out then give this a listen and let me know what you think (plus the video is pretty mesmerising):