“Wij spreken niet het Nederlands, maar onze taal is universeel: het is de muziek!” (“We don’t speak Dutch, but our language is universal: it is music!”)

Babylon Circus played the Melkweg last night, and it was great. They’re a huge (ten-piece?) French ska/reggae group with truly astonishing energy on-stage.

They played the Oude Zaal in the Melkweg, sold it out and filled the floor with a dense and chaotic swirl of maddened enthusiasts. We were upstairs on the miraculously uncrowded mezzanine (which turned into Smokers’ Corner as the gig drew to a close), so nobody threw beer on us or pushed us over or fell on top of us. (In a sense I think we didn’t get the real Babylon Circus experience.)

The music is high-energy but also highly scripted and polished. The latest album (Belle étoile) I think overdoes this a little, and so loses some immediacy. The same songs live, though, got that spark back.

The live show is also hugely scripted, with theatrical clowning woven into the songs. On one side of the stage the guitarist is taking a break and tucks his instrument under his chin violin-style for a chorus in mime; on the other side the sax player is threatening to shoot the trombone (with his sax, of course), who has been arguing some point with much gesticulation but is now edging off the stage with his hands held up very still and pleading; one singer, meanwhile, who started the show in a tailcoat, has progressively unbuttoned his shirt to the navel, while the other is trying to get to the front of the stage but is continually being beaten back by the cheers from the crowd (who have caught the joke and scream every time he looks like making it). It’s manic and ridiculous and very very fun. If you have a chance to see them live, I heartily recommend it.

Kiwi alert: they’re playing at WOMAD, March 12th. Get there and rock with them.