Songhoy Blues ML + Ba Balance DK/GM

Songhoy Blues brings dusty desert blues and shimmering guitar work from northern Mali to the stage. The quartet, who broke through in 2013 with raw and energetic "Timbuktu Punk" style, employs dusty blues scales, rock rhythms, call-and-response vocals, and African instruments such as kora, soku, and Senufo xylophone to convey the threatened musical heritage of their homeland. Members have been based in Bamako for over a decade due to religious fanaticism that regards music as haram. Songhoy Blues became known through Damon Albarn's Africa Express project and has since performed at venues including Roskilde and Glastonbury.

Their fourth album, Héritage (2025), blends the band's characteristic rocked-out expression with African instruments and explores what tradition means when cultures meet and people are forced to flee. The music contains social critique but also celebratory energy, which you can experience at this concert. Danish-Gambian Ba Balance opens the evening with electrifying desert guitar, catchy riffs, and groovy African percussion—the duo featuring guitarist Preben Carlsen and percussionist Sal Dibba experiment with African expressions, acid rock, jazz, and blues.