ED2015 4/5 Reviews ED2015 Music Reviews

Soweto Afro Pop Opera

By Stephanie Gray | Published on Wednesday 26 August 2015

While ‘Soweto Afro-Pop Opera’ may sound like a mish-mash of genres, really it’s anything but. This trio delight with their obvious joy for performance, combining soulful vocals with infectious personalities to demonstrate the huge variety and versatility of South African music. From the traditional ‘pata-pata’ to ‘Ave Maria’, they show the influences of the western world on the sounds of their own country. They’re great characters, keeping the audience totally enthralled as they flit between slower and livelier pieces. The group have downsized this year, and while the three men easily command the stage, the absence of a live band (replaced by recorded backing track) stops the performance just short of being something really special.

C, until 31 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Stephanie Gray]