Kidjo Saves Heavy Hits for Show’s End

It wasn’t surprising that Angelique Kidjo conquered the capacity crowd with her two-hour set at the House of Blues on Saturday. The mystery was why the Benin-born, Paris-based singer waited until the double-barreled finale of “Batonga” and “Adouma” to deliver the knockout punch.

Kidjo’s music is rooted in African rhythms, but her cosmopolitan style uses the international dance floor as a meeting ground. That makes her more accessible to Western listeners than many African artists, and it doesn’t hurt that her soaring, striking melodies (not mere chants) are catchy and clear enough to sing along with, even if they are almost always sung in African languages such as Fon and Yoruba.

Her polished, five-piece band and two backing singers played the songs expertly, but were hampered by a thin mix that kept the guitar and bass from developing a gut-punch impact. And while Kidjo is a formidable performer, she was curiously restrained and kept her personality under wraps for much of the set.

It seemed that the performance’s most memorable moments would be several spectacular dance duets Kidjo performed with a male dancer. But then the Arabic hook of her early dance hit “Batonga” triggered a stage invasion, “Adouma” connected with an audience sing-along and double-time hand-clapping, and the long-overdue combination of music, dance and Kidjo’s personality finally coalesced.