Antibalas
Inspired by socially conscious afrobeat collectives like Fela Kuti, Brooklyn’s 12-piece Antibalas modernizes that evergreen sound with touches of electronic, dub, and hip-hop beats that blend seamlessly with vintage funk grooves. They’ve only released a half dozen albums since forming in 1998, along with a handful of EPs and singles, but they’ve maintained a perpetual presence on the road as both headliner and opening act. They’re celebrating their 20th anniversary with a tour that hits the Belly Up on March 8, where you can expect them to showcase their first album in five years, Where the Gods Are in Peace, released via Daptone in September. It’s a typically politically charged record that kicks right off with a scathing condemnation of America’s treatment of Native American races, “Gold Rush,” with singer Duke Amayo shouting down a checklist of decimated or destroyed tribes. There’s also a 15-minute suite called “Tombstown” that seems almost Pink Floydian in both conception and scope, recounting the tale of an idyllic island of 1800s-era refugees from America who’ve abandoned the political division, corruption, and exploitation of their forsaken homeland in favor of utopian cooperation and cohabitation. It’s a somewhat simpleminded narrative — imagine Canada as if founded on Gilligan’s Island — that will surely play a lot more epic as performed live on the Solana Beach stage.