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Evening Standard rating
Reader rating
Description: The Malian duo play from their album Welcome To Mali.
Phone: 0870 432 5527
Website: http://www.atpfestival.com/events/atp-uk-concerts/line_up.php?view=1253
Email: feedback@atpfestival.com
Times: Dec 3, 7pm
Price: £17
Tickets were sold out weeks ago, so there was a real buzz as people clustered to get into this ornate Victorian theatre to see the blind husband and wife duo Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia.
It was their first London gig since the release of Welcome to Mali at the end of last year and they launched straight into the title track to huge applause. In designer Malian smocks with their signature sunglasses, Amadou and Mariam are always very stylishly clothed. Amadou engages with the audience. “Est-ce que vous ça va? Are you feeling OK?” he keeps asking between their bluesy songs, punched out with meaty bass and drums.
The music has a warm West African heart and catchy pentatonic tunes. Standing close on stage, they are singing about love as Mariam strokes the head of the man she’s been making music with for 30 years. And only they could get away with a song like I Follow You, with its banal tune and dodgy English lyrics — “I think of you every time, everywhere”. But it’s genuine, not saccharin and saved by a spectacular guitar solo on Amadou’s golden electric guitar.
Unfortunately, Mariam had an infection and her voice suffered in one or two numbers. Amadou’s guitar solos were the musical highlights of the show, often duelling with bass player Laurent Griffon.
So not Amadou and Mariam at their very best, but the ecstatic reaction to their hit encores – Je Pense à Toi and Dimanche à Bamako — showed they have won an enthusiastic fan-base on the UK scene.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
