George Ward
Freelance journalist and online editor for CLUNK. Can be found out and about in Bristol, finding cheap records or having a pint on King Street.
South Africa’s BCUC take over Bristol’s Jam Jar for two nights of dancing, big beats and joyous celebration
Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (or BCUC for short) are a seven-piece outfit from Soweto, South Africa. Having made many memorable appearances at festivals across the UK over the last few years, the group are currently in the midst of their huge Elektronikalizer tour of the UK and Europe.
We were lucky to catch them in Bristol’s wonderfully cosy Jam Jar venue for night one of their two day residency there. The venue was the perfect alternative to a festival field for the band, with the painted backdrop, dangling decorations and barn roof creating a lovely intimate feeling in the crowd.
BCUC‘s live lineup is mainly made up of percussion and, with 7 members, the sound created by them is incredibly uplifting. Huge drums keep their playful rhythms alive through their winding and lengthy runtimes. The band’s sound revolves around its funky basslines, one of the only melodic elements and very much as important to the rhythm section as the drums.
On top of the infectious instrumentals sits Nkosi Zithulele, one of the most passionate and watchable frontmen I’ve seen. Through his various chants, shouts and melodies, sung in both English and the several languages of South Africa, he entrances the crowd, somehow keeping our attention on him while chaos unfolds behind.
When he stops the show to preach of South Africa’s troubles, race relations and frustrating lack of progress, the show never feels halted; the crowd seems just as locked in as the rest of the set. After several minutes, a slightly too loud bit of audience chatter pulls Zithulele back to the stage, stopping his self-proclaimed ‘preaching’ but, rightly, never apologising.
The final twenty minutes of every BCUC show will be one of the best crowd experiences of your life. Their formula is simple: tease us with the threat that they only have 5 minutes left, tell us the problem of wanting to play a 15 minute song and proceeding to ramp up the energy into huge climaxes that send the audience into a frenzy. Just as you think you can’t deal with anymore, they repeat their formula and it hits even harder every time.
BCUC have been around for over twenty years now and have perfected what a live show should be. Every one of their sets is bubbling and overflowing with joy, energy and (never unrealistic) optimism. They turn every stage they play into a festival mainstage and create a space for their crowds to express themselves in whatever way they want to.
Listen to ‘Millions Of Us’ here: