The best thing about Bollywood films is everything. But this is what Kuti and Egypt 80 do, they ignite the listener, both in body and mind. When he finally leaves the stage the roar for an encore is among the loudest noises that this writer has ever heard. In the audience bodies are flying everywhere, the effect this music is having is remarkable. The band is of course a weapon, they know no other way than totally uncompromising pedal to the metal. It’s not just in his banter with the crowd, or his lyrics, but his energy, his intelligence and sheer musicianship. Tonight most of the tunes come from his recent From Africa With Fury: Rise album, and Kuti is a passionate spokesperson for his continent. Earthquakes kill many more people, yet they’re legal he suggests. The Good Leaf is also preceded by a monologue, with Kuti pondering how marijuana, something that occurs naturally could be illegal. You should send over the Europeans, we can train them in austerity and then send them back.” He chuckles to himself before launching into Rise Up, the title track to his last album, a track that felt a little indulgent on record, but live is a welcome breather from the relentless energy. “Africa is the worlds experiment,” he proclaims, “you want austerity? We’ve had it for years. Kuti is all over the stage writhing in time with the music, offering urgent sax solos, though also stopping occasionally to talk politics. This is the way music should be, relentless, primal, and precise. Next up they launch into Fire Dance from their debut album and the band feel even tighter.
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He’s playing his fathers Zombie “out of respect for the man,” and it’s incredible to the point of being overwhelming. Kuti appears and is immediately onto the sax, kicking everything up a notch. Afrobeat doesn’t get more urgent, more life affirming than this. Their sound is well honed after decades of performing, taut, primed ready to explode. When Egypt 80 take to the stage The Hi Fi Bar is bursting at the seams. In front of a typically excitable AWME crowd they tear through tracks from their recent debut album You Me Bullets Love, the searing funk of Sote Sote Adhi Raat a highlight. There’s a cruise ship captain and the horn section wear masks.
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A number of the band's tracks featured in the popular video game Far Cry 4, released in November 2014.Melbourne’s The Bombay Royale look to Bollywood for inspiration, buying into a fantasy world of surf guitar, super villains, and damsels in distress. In August 2014, Rolling Stone magazine featured The Bombay Royale in its list of '10 New Artists You Need To Know'. The band released its second music video Henna Henna in May 2014 and its second album The Island of Dr Electrico in July 2014 under the HopeStreet Recordings label. It has also played at many other major festivals including WOMAD (in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.), Woodford Folk Festival and Sakifo Music Festival on the island of Reunion. debut, playing at GlobalFEST at Webster Hall in New York City and at The Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C. In January 2014, The Bombay Royale made its U.S. and toured Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. In 2013, the band was booked to play at Glastonbury Festival in the U.K. The Bombay Royale released its first album You Me Bullets Love in April 2012 and was chosen as iTunes Breakthrough World Music Album for 2012. The band's male lead, Shourov Bhattacharya, is a second generation Indian-Australian musician and entrepreneur of Bengali descent. She is a Bollywood dance teacher and is married to the band's multi-instrumentalist Josh Bennett. Parvyn Kaur Singh, the band's female lead singer, is the daughter of Dya Singh, a traditional shabad singer. The Bombay Royale was formed in Melbourne, Australia in 2010 by Andy Williamson.
The band composes its music collaboratively with major contributions from saxophonist and band leader Andy Williamson, keyboard player Matty Vehl, bassist Bob Knob, guitarist Tom Martin and others. The band also performs songs in English, Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi. The vocal lines and lyrics to The Bombay Royale's songs are written mostly by lead vocalist Shourov Bhattacharya in Hindi and Bengali. However, it now composes and performs its own original music, synthesizing Indian classical and folk music with Western styles such as surf, rock and disco. Early in its career, the band performed covers of popular Hindi songs from that era such as "Jaan Pehechan Ho" and "Dum Maro Dum".
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The Bombay Royale is heavily inspired by the soundtracks of 1960s and 1970s Bollywood movies.