FROM Buenos Aires via Barcelona to Bournemouth, one of the hottest new acts in world music brought the house down at this excellent Club du Monde evening.
It took Aleka, Serge and Co a staggering nine hours to travel down from their previous gig, in Matlock, Derbyshire, but there was no evidence here of any rustiness due to the torrential downpours in the Midlands.
Best known, so far at least, for their friendship with mentor Manu Chao, Go Lem System, on their first UK tour, play a pleasingly varied mix of musical styles.
There's ska, trip-hop, dub, jazz, drum and bass and, just occasionally, bits of blues-rock.
Perhaps the best way to categorise them would be Latino-reggae, with a two-man horn section (that sounds so much bigger) pumping out sinuous riffs, a booming bass beat, choppy guitar and a charismatic and feelgood frontman to bring it all together.
Some of the songs sounded a bit samey at first hearing, but towards the end of an impressive set, the Go Lem guys were confident enough to change the pace a little.
A good-sized audience obviously enjoyed themselves, with plenty of gyrating going on, and particular congratulations to the bloke in the red T-shirt who danced throughout.
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