It has been at times a cold and bleak winter but this was all forgotten as soon as you entered The Haunt, when you are hit by the warm all-encompassing sounds of afro electro funk. London based Ibibio Sound Machine comprise of a multi-cultural line up of 8. They are fronted by Eno Williams who sings folk stories that she was told as a child in her mother’s Ibibio (Nigerian) tongue. Their modern take on an afrocentric sound is infectious, and is bound to make even the most staid person tap a toe.
 
The last time Ibibio came to Brighton they played the Corn Exchange for the Brighton Festival, a difficult concert to control because of its shape and size, but apparently it was one of the shows of the year having an unequivocal party atmosphere. Having bought tickets early 2014, with the original 2014 date being cancelled, you can imagine that my expectation and anticipation had become mighty high by the time the gig came around. Immediate thoughts once I walked into the venue just after the band had begun, was slight disappointment. The image I had painted of a raucous wash of skanking bodies getting lost in highlife disco was amiss. It was only the first song, but there did seem to be something missing from the atmosphere Ibibio’s music conjures. The space up to the stage was absolutely crammed, so perhaps the crowd didn’t have the space to let themselves loose. A couple of songs into the set, the floor was rippling and shaking as the audience were starting to get their funk on – it was finally starting to turn into the show I had envisioned.
 
The music was nevertheless fantastic throughout, mixing African styles with Latin American percussion and electronica. While the 8 piece band’s look was disjointed, their combined sound was anything but, being tight and impressive. You heard each of their own unique influence on the overall sound when they got to do a little solo as Eno introduced each member. Standout performances came from the experienced Ghanaian guitarist Alfred “Kari” Bannerman (best known for being in OSIBISA) who gave furious injections of afro beat funk all the way through. The real show stopper although was the beautiful Eno, who captured the crowd with her electric energy, contagious charisma and superb style. She was in constant chatter with the audience, geeing up everybody and getting them to mimic a peacock dance.
 
At the end of the show there was a massive sigh from the audience, as the venue put the house lights on without doing an encore. Thankfully they were just jesting, as they came back to do another 15 minutes, bringing back Eno’s mum to the stage for a revelrous end to the night. I left smiling, along with everyone else, with expectations fully met – a great live performance that never let up.
Iain Lauder