CANCELLED: Staff Benda Bilili

The Cedar and the Walker Art Center regret to advise that the Staff Benda Bilili tour, including this show, has been cancelled. Ticket-holders, please refer to the Cedar Refund Policy.

Like all the finest African bands, Staff Benda Bilili’s swirling complexity removes the option to do anything but dance … Havana cantina, Kinshasa slum, psychedelic club, or London arts centre—this crack outfit would tear the roof off anywhere.”— Independent 

 Join us for an unusual, moving, and completely memorable night of music. This 12-member group of street musicians from Kinshasa has become an international sensation for their mesmerizing sounds and invented instruments. While the band cooks up beaty Congolese soukous and rumba, Staff Benda’s voices conjure the crooners of Havana, the toasters of Kingston, and the Godfather of Soul himself. The group, several of whom who have been polio-afflicted since youth, features singer/guitarists perched on customized tricycle/wheelchair hybrids fronting the group, a killer acoustic rhythm section, and weirdly infectious, invented instrument solos. This international phenomenon considers itself to be the real journalists of Kinshasa, with joyous songs that document and comment on everyday life with raw power, delicacy, and beauty. 

 Copresented with the Walker Art Center.

 Support provided by The McKnight Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 

The Cedar is now fully air-conditioned for your year-round comfort!

Ticket options and info

• On sale date: now
• Phone: 612-338-2674 ext 2 ($1 fee per ticket) or call the Walker at 612.375.7600
• In person: From a Cedar volunteer in the front lobby before and after shows (no fee), Depth of Field (no fee), or Electric Fetus (small fee)
• Online: Ticketweb (fees apply) (click on red Buy Tickets button at top of this page)
• All Cedar shows are all ages.
• Students with ID may gain discounted admission for tickets at the door.

Staff Benda Bilili

The extraordinary group Staff Benda Bilili was revealed to the outside world through the work of Florent de La Tullaye and Renaud Barret, two young French filmmakers who were shooting a series of films on the many musicians and other amazing figures living...