Citizen of the World and international rock star Manu Chao delivered fiery sets across California this week, culminating last night with a very intimate performance for KCRW’s Berkeley Street sessions held at legendary recording engineer Bob Clearmountain’s Apogee Berkeley Street Studio in Santa Monica.
Manu Chao, accompanied by his band L’avventura (a stripped down version of his Radio Bemba crew that includes the inspiring Madjid Fahem on guitar and Phillipe Treboul) delivered 90 minutes of eclectic tunes for a 150-person capacity, standing-only room, which included Professor Josh Kun from USC Annenberg, who recently chatted with Manu Chao for the USC Annenberg Lecture Series on Latin Arts and Culture. Also in attendance was Tijuana NO legend Ceci Bastida.
Coming off a stellar performance at West Hollywood’s Troubadour, Manu played hits “Bienvenida A Tijuana,” “Politik Kills,” “Mi Vida,” “Mr. Bobby,” and a remix (well known to anyone who has seen him live) of “Me Gustas Tu” with “Bongo Bong” thrown in the mix. The guests, bobbing and grooving to every beat, exhaled a loud roar when Manu declared, “We’re just jamming!”
Longtime KCRW host Tom Schanbel interviewed Manu between sets and asked if he ever thought Clandestino, Manu’s first album as a solo artist, would reach such critical acclaim. “No. I didn’t think anyone would like it.” He continued, “I thought it would be my last album.” We can hardly imagine a musical archive in this world without Proxima Estacion, Radio Bemba Sound System’s Live Album, and La Radiolina.
The performance, and interview, will air on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic on November 10th at 11:15am PST.
Check out the setlist below and some more pics.
SETLIST:
SET 1
Politik Kills
Siberia
Mi vida
Mr. Bobby
Te tromper
L automne est la
Si loin de toi
Neno pequenino
Eu beije o sol
SET 2
El hoyo
Expresso de hielo
Senor matanza
Amaluca de vida
Tombola
Giramundo
Vivir sin ti
Libertad
Circo caliente
ENCORE
Bienvenida a Tijuana
La Primavera
Bongo Bong
*All photos by Salvador Farfan.