King of the Marolles

“Me gustas tú”, “Je ne t’aime plus”, “Bongo bong”, “Clandestino”…  Manu Chao needs no introduction. In the 1990s, he toured the world with Mano Negra, and after he went solo things only got better. Despite his political engagement, the French Spaniard from Barcelona became a big pop star. For two days, he will make his audience dance on the cobbles of the Vossenplein/place du Jeu de Balle in the Marolles neighbourhood.
Manu Chao has recently been spending a lot of time in South America, and has a preference for Recife in North-East Brazil. At the last carnival, Chao appeared as a guest during Nação Zumbi’s concert, the most important world fusion band from Brazil.
Although Manu Chao has not released any new material for five years, he remains incredibly popular. So if you don’t have your tickets yet, it’s probably too late. The City of Brussels has managed to book him for two exclusive concerts via the organisers of the Brussels Summer Festival, but it was also just dumb luck. You can bet that various festivals are green with envy because they would have loved to get Manu Chao, if only so they could post “sold out” above the entrance. But slipping through the net is of course precisely what we would expect of Manu Chao’s rebellious nature!

Manu Chao 11 & 12/7, 19.30, SOLD OUT!, Vossenplein/Place du Jeu de Balle, Brussel/Bruxelles, 0900-00.600, www.fnac.be, 070-25.20.20, www.sherpa.be