Community is a big thing in the Naarm/Melbourne music scene. There's pockets that seem so exclusive that the conceptalmost feels forgotten. Then there are nights that remind you that community is what you make it, and music can be the glue that binds us all together. Seun Kuti and Egypt 80’s performance for RISING felt like one of these nights, and as I made my way out of Hamer Hall, it seemed like I wasn’t the only one who left feeling the same way. 

Echoing sentiments of awe continued as everyone flowed from the aisles and—for the first time ever—I saw strangers talking to each other about the music and slowly removing the false facades of exclusivity that feel oh so very Melbourne. 

The night started off with Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, which if you did African Music and Dance at UniMelb, you would notice a few familiar faces, including dance teacher Kuukua Acquah, who brought smiles and energy to the stage. 

At first, the crowd was hesitant to dance, with heads bopping side to side and feet tapping under the hidden stall seats. But, it would be a waste of such energetic and full body grooves to be sitting in comfort. Then, the night really started, with one person racing down the aisle shouting “get up and dance” as they ran to the front and gathered a crowd together. 

I felt a sigh of relief. I, like many others, had wanted to get up and dance, but was afraid to break the chain of comfortable uncomfortability, until the call for dancing ushered in a wave of people standing and dancing. Public Opinion Afro Orchestra brought out  One Six, who started rapping a spoken word piece, and then, they invited Krauatatungalung Elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe onto the stage. Uncle Robbie Thorpe just two days before had argued to the Victorian Supreme Court that King Charles should be charged with the genocide of First Nations people in Australia, so to have him calling upon the audience to continue to fight for justice for First Nations people felt like a significant and timely event. This was followed by chants of Yorthu Yindi’s treaty which the audience called back. 

Then it was time for Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 to come on. Seun Kuti, the son of the creator of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti, has had music in his life from the very beginning. His performing skills and comfortability in embodying the music showed just how natural music was for him. 

There would be no denying that many people in the audience were there to see Fela Kuti’s legacy, rather than Seun Kuti himself, but, by the end of the night everyone had left a Seun Kuti fan. Kuti addressed this early on by paying respect to all the powerful black figures around the world who created change and empowerment, including Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and his father. After all, the history of Afrobeat was and is political. Kuti reminded the audience of this, encouraging us to reject capitalism, racism and discrimination. 

Kuti’s band, Egypt 80, was full of musicians from across the world, including 3 Melbourne musicians and one of the original members of Egypt 80 from Lagos, Nigeria. His band was a celebration of globalism as Kuti said and a celebration of immigrants. Kuti reminded the audience of this, addressing the rise of anti-immigrant discourse filling the world at the moment and calling upon white audience members to confront their comfortability and remember that we are also immigrants on this land. 

The music itself really was incomparable. Seun Kuti constantly encouraged the audience to dance, call back and laugh. Opening with “T.O.P” followed by other tracks from his new album, Seun Kuti made every song feel like a groove into the next. Energetic brass, percussion and syncopated vocals continued the vibrating energy of his music, making waves of ecstasy which took over Seun Kuti as he jumped and spun across the stage. 

Kuti featured slow and fast grooves, but somehow made them blend in like an ocean tide going in and out of the coast. The musicianship in Egypt 80 was so tight that there was no room for mistakes, every musical decision was purposeful and somehow felt ethereal. With late political figures looming over the band in the overhead projection it really felt like there was some heavenly guidance at play. 

Kuti ended with “Emi Aluta”, his song with Naarm icon Sampa the Great, and with the final moments of the show, out came the icon herself. 

And, just like that, we all thought the show was done, until, it wasn’t, and out came Seun Kuti again, bringing members from Public Opinion Afro Orchestra alongside other Narrm musicians. As the night concluded, Fela Kuti’s presence hovered as “Zombie” reverberated throughout Hamer hall. 

Legacy was there and music continued to bring us all together as we were reminded of why we came. As Seun Kuti said, “You are not here because of me, I am here because of you.” 

Right back at you, Seun Kuti.