Event

Shango Afrobeat Orchestra!

Shango, the 20+ member Afro-beat Orchestra dedicated to playing the music of Fela Kuti, Tony Allen and the music they have inspired, was founded by percussionist, keyboardist, dancer, composer and arranger Jonny Peiffer in the summer of 2013. The band has been steadily offering raucous infectious dance parties and ever since and packing venues like The Dance Hall Kittery, The Press Room Portsmouth, and Fury's Publick House Dover, among other venues throughout the Seacoast.

Shango is stacked with the best musicians and dancers from the ME/NH Seacoast. The band features lead vocalist Stu Dias of Soggy Po Boys fame and Mother Superior and the Sliding Royals fame and various other sorts of fame. Other members include keyboardist Mike Effenberger and bassist Nick Phaneuf of Tan Vampire fame, guitarists Jon McCormack and Jonathan Paul, a 6-piece horn section featuring Matt Langley on tenor and practically all of the Soggy Po Boy horn section, dancers and singers, and a 5-piece percussion section. Percussionist Namory Keita, a native of Guinea West Africa, regularly accompanies Liz Fowler's dance classes and teaches classes of his own at The Dance Hall.

In a recent show Shango featured Ismael 'Bonfils' Kouyate, principal dancer and singer in the Broadway production Fela! the musical, currently on a world tour.

The Seacoast has come to expect that a night out to see Shango is a night of non-stop heavy dance grooves and the biggest sound around.

$12/advance $15/door