No Fire From Fela at Greek Theatre

Nothing like a lack of controversy to separate the die-hard fans of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s African music ‘n’ culture roadshow from those who flocked to the Olympic Auditorium three years ago when the Nigerian bandleader was a political cause celebre . The Greek Theatre was barely half-filled Saturday for a somewhat muted two-hour set that never really caught fire.

The emphasis on unrecorded material didn’t make much of a difference since Kuti and his massive band--nine horns, five female singers, six percussionists, two guitarists and two bassists, an auxiliary keyboardist and four dancers on one selection--followed a trademark pattern. After Fela explained the political impetus for each of the four 20-to-30 minute pieces, the music started with rhythms that created an inexorable forward surge spiced by dynamic punctuations by the horns and call-and-response vocals of Kuti and his backing singers. Little things--like adding a couple of instruments or orchestrating stop-on-a-dime shifts in the arrangements--can go a long way within Kuti’s framework. But they didn’t go far enough to make his performance Saturday memorable.