Music Inferno: The Indestructible Beat Tour 1988-89

This collection of live recordings starts with Mahlathini telling an enthusiastic audience, “we’re going to give you the real Soweto sound, mbaqanga.” And that's exactly what we get here on a generous helping of 16 songs recorded during Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens’ Indestructible Beat UK tour in the late 80s.

This tour came off the back of the The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (1985) compilation on Earthworks, which came out at a time when the mbaqanga phenomenon was sweeping the Western world. Now, over three decades later, this collection of live recordings, made at multiple venues across the tour and remastered from cassette, arrives. It's a thrilling set captured at the height of the music; it's full of funky bass, upbeat syncopations and sparkly guitar lines. What makes this live music so compelling is the perfect combination of Mahlathini's growly vocals and the Queens’ iconic harmonies. They will always be the quintessential sound of Soweto.

Listening to the tracks, you can picture the riot this would have been to see on stage. ‘Melodi Ya Lla’ is a particular highlight. Mahlathini comes across as irrepressible, even without being able to see the ‘The Lion of Soweto’ apparently stalking the stage. This is a fascinating time capsule, but the ‘live’ moments do get a bit wearing by the end of set. If you were unlucky enough to have missed the live shows, I’m not sure Mahlathini's endless ‘thank you, thank yous’ add much to the music. Perhaps slightly stricter editing could have helped recreate the energy that was very clearly the essence of these shows.