Rev. Sekou opens a show for the North Mississippi Allstars at the Mod Club on May 15.Cody Dickenson
With optimum protest music there is an urgency, immediacy and the acceptance of responsibility. Consider the Neil Young-written Ohio: "We're finally on our own … gotta get down to it." Or consider Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, the American poet, pastor and renaissance theologian. "In times like this, ain't no one going to save us," he asserts on the title track to his debut album In Times Like These. "We're the ones we've been waiting for."
Recorded under the musical mentorship of Cody and Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, the album opens with a speech given by Rev. Sekou at a rally protesting the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The song is Resist, clear instruction from a melodious sermonizer, against a backdrop of romping horns, sweet organs and winding guitar.
Expect much of the same at the Mod Club on May 15, when Rev. Sekou opens a show by the aforementioned Allstars. Expect faith-based social activism, roaring declamation and church-rattling hullabaloo. It's a show and it's a statement, in times like these.
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou opens for the North Mississippi Allstars, May 15 (doors open 7:30 p.m.). $23.50. Mod Club, 722 College St., collectiveconcerts.com.
Brad Wheeler