Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: View Video
• VHS Release Date: March 19, 1991
• Run Time: 57 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300265544
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,063 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times- Jon Pareles

ONE OF THE TEN GREATEST VIDEOS EVER: hypnotic, cutting and defiant.

Product Description

This extraordinary program features the most famous Nigerian musician and composer, FELA ANIKULAPO LUTI. Fela was the most celebrated black African musician of his time and a revolutionary, a cultural and political symbol oftentimes ambiguous to the Western mind.

The African rhythms of his music are profoundly influenced by Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Mile Davis as well as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear, forming a new musical style called "Afro-Pop," somewhat akin to "Jazz-Rock," but with deep African roots.

A charismatic performer, Fela projects the imperial trappings of power. His music is punctuated by exotic and highly suggestive tribal dances and rituals performed on stage by 15 of his 27 wives.

Was he a musician? A politician? A religious chief? An agitator? Was he a Miles Davis-James Brown-Malcolm X who decided to marry his 27 dancers and singers, and his first wife, all the same day, in a great tropical ceremony? In any case, he was one of the best loved men in Africa. In Nigeria (over 80 million population) Fela claimed that he was better known than the President. It was probably true.

-FELA, BLACK PRESIDENT- He led a political party in Lagos, the "Movement of The People," and he was its candidate in the Nigerian Presidential elections of 1983. Panafricanist, libertarian, Fela represented the uprising of Black Africa, politically and musically.

This historic show was recorded in Paris on June 30, 1981 during an exclusive "all night" live concert. This exceptional event was captures on tape by multiple cameras and recorded in 24-track stereo sound, newly digitized and enhances in this DVD presentation.

SELECTIONS
1. Instrumental Solo
2. Army's Arrangement
3. Original Suffer Head
4. Power Show

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Inspired performance, but poor recording quality, April 12, 2002

By 

Mark S. Lo "Mark Lo" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: FELA In Concert (DVD)

A great performance by Fela and the band, but I was seriously disappointed by this DVD. The earlier reviews are of the VHS version, which perhaps is a more forgiving format for a recording of this poor quality.

Yes the music is great, but the sound cuts in and out and the video looks murky. Also, the stage lighting is so dim that you can barely see the horn section, the background singers, or the percussion players. As a result, the cameras focus strictly on what is happening at the front of the stage, basically just Fela and the dancers. It makes the whole experience feel flattened and two-dimensional. You start wondering just what is going on back there in the dark.

Worth buying only as a historical artifact.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transy Trippy Funky Afro Dance Grooves, December 21, 1999

By 

Eddie Landsberg "My 10th year as a reviewer !... (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Concert [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Ever try to imagine whats going on on those tripped out FELA grooves...? When you listen, you imagine a tribal gathering, perhaps even war rally... with fire, dance, soulful rhythms, chief Fela at the helm... This is not far from the truth. While the video is set in 1981 Paris, the energy transcends all time places and cultures. - - Felas stage presence and charisma are mind blowing. Though the band often sounds like a symphony of chaos, great musical moments occur. The depth of Felas solos are easy to miss amidst the synergy. His dancers gyrate on the floor answering his vocalizing in unison... he prowls the stage bare chested with tribal face paints saxophone in hand - - dances, soloing, rarely standing still, the horns accenting the rhythms. - - This IS a FELA album brought to life and an opportunity to look into the eyes of a firey legend and see the sounds that were and are uniquely his and part of an era. Known as THE BLACK PRESIDENT and THE AFRICAN JAMES BROWN, for sure he lived up to his reputation on the night this video was shot. A MUST HAVE is an understatement.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars kinda good kinda bad, January 14, 2004

By 

Philip Kavan "Underground Spiritual Game" (Western Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FELA In Concert (DVD)

I read the above reviews regarding the sound quality and thought "I love Fela; I'm sure I'll enjoy it anyway." So I bought it. Well, never having had the opportunity to see him live, I was happy to see him in action; however, the quality is so horrible I can't imagine watching it again. Not only is the sound muffled, but the camera operator constantly cuts away from what is interesting. There is one segment in particular in which Fela is really getting loose, dancing like some kind of karate rooster, and the camera keeps cutting to the friggin' audience. Man! I imagine if you're into Fela as much as I am, you'll probably wind up buying it anyway. No harm.