Antibalas (Mostly) Lets Their Instruments Do The Talking

Antibalas

Yoshi’s

510 Embarcadero West, Oakland

January 21, 2026

The late-January sun was setting as we approached Yoshi’s. It was still before taps, and that helped us get second row seats for this second show of a two-night stint for NYC underground legends Antibalas.

The name means bulletproof en Espanol. They had a humble beginning in the late 90s as a neighborhood dance band for block parties and protests. This century, they have evolved into one of the better afrobeat bands ever, a notable achievement for a DIY collective from Brooklyn. 

Armed with a new six-song, all-instrumental Daptone Records release, Hourglass, the group featured a blend of veterans and youth as they deployed to Oakland for their first ever tour of duty at Yoshi’s.

With a squad of this size with this high level of musicianship, some amount of attrition will always be a factor. There have been various iterations of this band, but tonight’s lineup consisted of Marcus Farrar on shekere, Jose Escobar on keys, Marcos Garcia and Timothy Allen on guitars, Andrew McGovern on trumpet, Michael Pallas on Trombone, Drew Vandewinckel on tenor sax, Martin Perna on baritone sax, Andrew Miramonti on bass, Reinaldo De Jesus on congas, and Kevin Raczka on drums.

Founded in 1998 by Perna and several members of The Dap-Kings, the early addition of Lagos-born and raised kung fu instructor Duke Amayo gave the band a legit Nigerian influence. Amayo started off on percussion before eventually becoming the front man on vocals and keyboards. 

After basic training in New York City for a few years, the group began touring relentlessly throughout North America and Europe, including performances at Glastonbury, Montreux, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Newport.

From 2008 through 2012, Antibalas served as the house band for the Tony-award-winning Broadway musical “Fela!” They’ve also done several cross-genre collaborations with acts such as the Roots, Public Enemy, Sharon Jones, and Lee Fields. 

Now in their 28th year, they have gone global, and that brought them to Yoshi’s.

Judging by the restaurant before the show, I would have thought that Oakland wasn’t knowin’ on Antibalas. However, there were plenty of people in line for the show outside, so the room ended up packed. This audience was noticeably younger, more casual, and less melanated than other shows I’ve been to at this venue.

The band was likewise casual. They looked like the IT department of some corporation based in Kentucky, but make no mistake: they were funky.

Like classic funk bands, each individual part of their songs was simple and repetitive, but those individual parts were arranged into complex and dynamic pieces that felt seamless.

The shekere set the tempo with the precision of a drill sergeant minus all of the wasted energy. The drums and congas were simple, and so deep in the pocket. The guitars and bass interlocked into funky grooves. Atop that, the horns were sometimes harmonizing, sometimes violating ceasefire agreements. Keyboardist Escobar was featured throughout the night.

Sometimes the sound was full, sometimes it was not. Space was weaponized like a hollowpoint. There was chaos and zen. 

It was giving hypnotic grooves punctuated by climaxing crescendoes and funky breakdowns, a soundscape upon which masterful solos cavorted.

Produced by Perna and guitarist Garcia, Hourglass has captured the trance-inducing power of the band’s long-form live arrangements into six succinct tracks.

This is their eighth album, but the first since their 2020 grammy-nominated Fu Chronicles, a collection of songs written by Amayo. He left the band shortly thereafter in 2021, and released his first solo album, Lion Awakes, earlier this year.

Lyrics from Fu Chronicles delved into patriarchy, climate change, late stage capitalism, white supremacy, and genocide.

There are no lyrics on Hourglass. However, at the end of Wednesday’s show, Farrar sang during the band’s classic cut “Dangerous Roads.” 

They otherwise let their instruments do the talking for the most part.

There was one other exception when, during the encore, Perna introduced the band and then told the audience, “Protect yourselves, protect your neighbors, fight the power, Fuck ICE, Free Palestine, et cetera.”