The setting was bizarre, but this was a wildly adventurous and often magnificent show. After their triumph at Glastonbury last summer, the Africa Express team went off to play in the Congo. Now, for their latest unlikely venture, they chose not a major concert venue, but the fading splendour of a hall that was originally built to house a grand Liverpool circus and is now used for cage-fighting. Backstage, the cast of 120 musicians included both African and western celebrities, frantically discussing what they should play, for the aim of Africa Express is that it should be largely spontaneous and unrehearsed, and provide a forum for collaborations between musicians who would not normally work together.
It could have been a disaster, but for the most part it actually worked, and the experiments became braver as this marathon, six-hour show progressed. The proceedings opened with Amadou and Mariam, who were soon teamed up with the Magic Numbers. They were followed by Hard-Fi, who sounded far more inspiring once joined by the rousing Rachid Taha, who transformed their Suburban Knights into a gutsy Arabic rocker.
Many of the finest sections were dominated by the virtuoso Malian n'goni exponent Bassekou Kouyate. He began by playing alongside Reverend and the Makers and then Damon Albarn, and presided over an exhilarating African supergroup in which he was joined by his wife, the stately singer Ami Sacko, and compatriots Amadou and Vieux Farka Touré. Nitin Sawhney and Justin Adams added further guitar backing, and an impressively in-form Baaba Maal provided the driving, bluesy vocals. Maal and Kouyate reappeared for the second highpoint of the show, this time in the impressive company of Franz Ferdinand, who provided a slick, unrehearsed reworking of Take Me Out, allowing the African musicians to move in and slowly dominate, with Albarn now joining in on keyboards.
By 3am, Albarn was on stage again, joining Taha and Maal for a glorious Rock the Casbah. It had been an extraordinary night, but the event might have benefited from a smaller lineup, and even more collaboration. The venue was charming, but was sadly under capacity, perhaps because it was simply too obscure. Maybe it is time for Africa Express to play conventional halls - and give audiences a chance to see what they have achieved.
