Femi Kuti & The Positive Force

Femi Kuti perpetuates Fela’s afrobeat while charting his own course. With The Positive Force, he has spent more than thirty years refining a tighter compositional approach, driven by sharp brass, a groove that blends highlife, funk, jazz and Yoruba rhythms, and lyrics in English, Pidgin or Yoruba that remain focused on real-life concerns. His album Stop the Hate confirmed this clear direction: lively polyrhythms, supple bass lines, razor‑sharp melodies and a pulse firmly rooted in Lagos.

On stage everything intensifies. Surrounded by a dozen musicians and dancers, Femi conducts from the alto sax, launches the breaks, builds the tension, stretches the pieces, opens space for solos and then reignites the momentum. The brass section strikes cleanly, the backing vocals answer, the rhythm section drives unrelentingly, and the spirit of the New Afrika Shrine is palpable—a taut thread linking Lagos to every hall where the band performs.

Having passed through Fourvière in 2024, he returns to Lyon with a set in which trance is a collective experience. Femi Kuti & The Positive Force will be at Le Transbordeur in Villeurbanne on 16 April 2026.