Music Beyond Mainstream presents
African Soul Rebels featuring Les Amazones d’Afrique, Gasper Nali & N'famady Kouyaté
Danceable. Celebratory. African creativity, resistance and innovation.
African Soul Rebels, Music Beyond Mainstream’s trailblazing live series, is reborn for a new era — celebrating fearless artists who reshape tradition, challenge borders, and put rhythm at the centre of resistance and joy.
Leading the charge are the electrifying L’Amazones d’Afrique — the powerhouse collective of West African artists whose music fuses ancient roots with urgent, future-facing sounds and a message of strength, unity and change.
Joining them is the phenomenal Gasper Nali, a not-so-traditional babatoni player from the shores of Lake Malawi. With his 3-metre-long, one-stringed homemade bass guitar, a stick and an empty beer bottle, plus a cow-skin kick drum and collaborators on percussion and guitar, he creates impossibly danceable Afro beats with playful, joyful hooks.
N’famady Kouyaté has been building an enthusiastic UK audience with his unique musical style ever since he relocated to Wales from Guinea in 2019. His primary instrument is the balafon – a traditional wooden xylophone, sacred to West African culture and his family heritage of the griot/djeli. Winner of the 2023 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition, N’famady’s music is a blend of his West African heritage and western musical influences from the likes of Super Furry Animals and The Flaming Lips.
This isn’t just a gig.
It’s a revival of a movement.
A celebration of African creativity, resistance and innovation — past, present and future.
Need to know
Venue: Sage One (standing pit)
Price: £34.10
Stage Times: Announced nearer showtime.
Age: Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
Read our policy on bringing bags to the venue.
This event is part of Music Beyond Mainstream (MBM), a network of large scale UK venues collaborating to present exceptional diverse artists and distinctive musical voices beyond the mainstream touring circuit.
Gasper Nali
Gasper Nali’s unique style of Kwela music, has received an extraordinary amount of online attention. He’s featured by CNN and in the documentary ‘Deep Roots Malawi’, jammed with Joss Stone and appeared on Wired for Sound – Malawi. He’s even been played by Iggy Pop on BBC 6. Gasper’s songs, all sung in the Malawi national language of Chichewa, talk about life and strife in the country, often including social issues.
He’s played arts centres and festivals on multiple UK and European tours. In 2025, Gasper transformed his customary one-man-band show into a 3-piece band for the very first time in the UK. Luhangah on provides additional vocals and percussion and Gasper’s long-time producer and collaborator Mattias Stålnacke on guitars.
N'famady Kouyaté
N’famady Kouyaté is a young energetic master musician from Guinea (Conakry), who relocated to Cardiff (Wales) in 2019. A talented multi-instrumentalist who wowed audiences across the UK and Ireland during autumn/winter 2019/20 with his modern interpretations of traditional West African Mandingue songs and rhythms supporting Gruff Rhys on the Pang! album tour.
His performances create vibrant & joyous atmospheres that are fuelled by his charisma and charm onstage, wielding balafon & guitar throughout the show with a masterful ease. N’famady won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition in 2023, further signalling a bright future for this rising star.
