Posted on 07/14/2008
The 2008 Afro-Punk Festival came to a glorious close over the weekend with its main stage concert at Fort Greene Park and Block Party on Clinton Avenue. Saturday's free concert featured an eclectic mix of rock, soul and punk with performances by Sophia Ramos, Little Jackie, Tamar-kali and The Dirtbombs.  Sunday brought The Carps, J*Davey and Kudu.

Though Sophia Ramos' scratchy blues vocals got the crowd hoopin’ and hollerin’, her set got the most recognition for the 'nipple slip' during her last song. That's right, July 12, 2008, 3:57 p.m. goes down in Afro-Punk history as the first display of full-blown festival boobage. I doubt it was intentional, but they were out there long enough for it not to really matter. She eventually felt the breeze, I suppose, and put her halter back in place and finished the song to wild applause. The best part was all the guys in the audience who decided to check their phone or read a flyer at that very moment. The looks of regret were priceless.

Next up was Little Jackie, who mostly rocked new material from The Stoop. "Black Barbie" sounds even better live. Then came my favorite Brooklyn rock deity, Tamar-kali. I can't even express what makes her so special. She brings soul and Black consciousness to her songs like Nina Simone, but doesn’t let that take away from her hardcore spirit and kicks it as hard as any punk band is or ever has. It's all in the attitude and Tamar-kali's got buckets of it. Combined with the physicality she delivers in every performance, her set was all kinds of ferocious, and unfortunately, way too short. I haven't seen her rock outfit perform in a minute (she also has an orchestral, chamber ensemble), so I'm still feeling a little delinquent in my Tamar intake. This was the first time I'd seen her with a female drummer and this chick was killing it. Her arms were unreal and she constantly had to readjust the kit from banging so hard.

I heard The Noisettes were unable to perform due to visa issues, so The Dirtbombs closed the show. The crowd swelled for the veteran punkers’ loud, hard-driving set. The band's following had the park feeling like a Doobie Brothers concert, when old heads come out and support their own with more energy than all the young'uns before them. The vibe was really warm, though, and not because of the sun, which had already started receding by then. Middle-aged parents had their kids on their shoulders dancing along and locals who were just glad to see something positive and fun in the park wandered by to give a listen. An older Hispanic woman just stood in silence with a smirk on her face when I asked her if this kind of thing used to happen in the park 20 years ago when she first moved into the area.

Sunday brought the Block Party with more live performances including The Carps, J*Davey and Kudu plus tons of funky vendors selling their original, mostly handmade wares. The Carps, hailing from Toronto, have an unbelievably large and loud sound for a two-man band, with lead singer Jahmal Tonge on the drums and Neil White on the bass. Their set was impressive in part because they allowed themselves to be a little silly, yet still kicked hard, emotional music (emotional, yet not whiny emo - that’s key). Tonge, who did the most talking with the crowd, reminded me of Wayne Brady with his good-natured sense of humor, but when he started playing again, his visceral vocals reminded you that he was not there to chat. One song, “Big Booty Girls,” was a lot of fun, yet when he wanted the crowd to sing-along, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it because I knew that if Nelly or Li’l’ Jon were singing a similar sentiment, I’d have an indignant index finger raised in objection. But this crowd of dreadlocked, African print wearers didn’t let the irony bother them. They also have a song about a convenience store robbery where they break into the dialogue between the robber and clerk, then return to the song with a fresh, head-banging beat. Too bad they went on relatively early because the crowd was still a bit too thin to appreciate their party rocking style.

Next was J*Davey, who I always enjoy, but after seeing them a handful of times it feels like ‘seen’em once, seen it all.’ They turn the same tricks very well, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen them do before. With that said, they rock out everytime so if you haven't yet caught them live, it's definitely worth it! They kicked the set off with a lusty cover of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and then went into the usual blend of sexy, dance-y songs with “Lil Big Heads” rocking the crowd the most. Once Jack left the stage, the host got on the mic and kept referring to them in the feminine singular, as if the group was Jack’s solo vehicle. After being corrected by Brook once, he continued saying, “She is signed to Warner Bros…” at which point Brook stopped breaking down equipment and jumped on the mic to help dude out with his pronoun usage. Seemed like an honest mistake since her name is Jack Davey and the band is J*Davey, but I guess the omission rubbed homeboy the wrong way.



Kudu closed the live band portion of the Block Party. The drummer, D'Anthony, was absolutely amazing and seemed to be banging away in his own little world, while the singer played chanteuse gyrating and dancing oddly around the stage. Her voice is perfect for Kudu’s brand of deep house.

Except for The Carps, none of the bands completely commanded your full attention, which might have been the real point for the Block Party anyway. It was more about people hanging out, eating fantastic macaroni & cheese and buying new, feathered earrings. As cliché as it is, Brooklyn has that certain something. Whether it’s the olive-colored men with wavy hair balled into a knot atop their heads or the brown skinned women with shaved heads or intricately braided ‘locks, the real show was offstage taking in the people and culture of the Brooklyn arts scene. That can be shown alone by the support the Block Party received. New York City Councilwoman Leticia James, who helped the organizers obtain permits, was in attendance, as were members of No Surrender, Game Rebellion, Tamar-kali, Shrine for the Black Madonna and Michaela Angela Davis. The evening rounded out with Rich Medina taking over the wheels after DJ Hard Hittin’ Harry and the Dustbin Bros. spun a variety of classic rock, hip-hop and punk throughout the afternoon to suit the diverse palettes of the crowd. Afro-Punk is definitely making a name for itself, attracting some of the most interesting talent in rock music to its multi-interest celebration of Black culture. This weekend was yet another exciting display of what this festival can bring, setting the bar even higher for next year.



- Story by Candace L., Photos by Mel D. Cole (villageslum.com)