In their third Australian tour and after a sold-out season last year, the Soweto Gospel Choir returned to Adelaide’s Festival Theatre with their new offering African Spirit.In its short but spectacular rise on the international stage, the Soweto Gospel Choir has achieved much more than other performers would in a lifetime including winning successive Grammy’s in 2007 and 2008 for Best Traditional World Music Album.
For just on two hours, twenty-six performers costumed in a dazzling kaleidoscope of colour treated the audience to a musical program that is vibrantly enthusiastic and a celebration of community.
Performing in a number of different languages including English, Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho, much of the repertoire draws on a mix of traditional and contemporary South African gospel music interspersed popular song including Bob Dylan’s I’ll Remember You and a medley of Oh Happy Day with Bob Marley's One Love.
At times, the singers are accompanied by a band comprising guitar, keyboards, bass and drums, or dance in engaging traditional forms. However, the Choir’s strength lies within its vocal blends and harmonies, accompanied only by a pair of djembes providing a tribal underscore of rhythmic pulses.
The versatility of the choir is evident, especially in act two with a highly percussive routine titled The Canteen, where cutlery, crockery and glassware become the instruments. In a celebration of the strength of the human spirit, African Spirit is an inspirational program of music and dance.
The Soweto Gospel Choir once again prove why they have become a musical tour-de-force, in turn the audience offering them a well deserved standing ovation.
Soweto Gospel Choir - African Spirit
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Saturday 21 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
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