Mythical African psych-rock band W.I.T.C.H. headlines free McLaren Park concert
Psychedelic rock legends in their native Zambia, African band W.I.T.C.H (an acronym for "We Intend To Cause Havoc") returns to San Francisco Sunday afternoon to play a free concert in McLaren Park co-presented by the Bottom of the Hill, SF Live and Illuminate.
Though largely unknown outside of Africa when they first rose to prominence, W.I.T.C.H. became one of the biggest rock bands to emerge from the continent during the '70s. Led by charismatic singer Emanyeo "Jagari" Chanda and lead guitarist Chris "Kims" Mbewe, the group took their admiration for the guitar pyrotechnics of Jimi Hendrix and the irresistible groove of James Brown and crafted a style of fuzzed-out garage rock that drew equally from psychedelia and funk.
The group's first three albums -- the 1972 debut In the Past, 1974's Introduction and the 1975 landmark Lazy Bones -- established the band as one of the leading lights of a national music movement that would eventually be referred to as "Zamrock." But by the end of the decade with the nation facing economic collapse and increasingly authoritarian government rule, bands like W.I.T.C.H. were forced to play daytime shows to avoid strict curfews.
That was around the time that Chanda would depart the band, seeking to support himself and his family by working as a teacher or a gemstone miner according to conflicting accounts. The band would continue in a more disco direction, eventually splitting up by the mid-1980s. But in the decades that followed, original W.I.T.C.H. records became a rare and coveted commodity among collectors and hip-hop producers searching for untapped sample sources.
The use of W.I.T.C.H. samples by renowned beatsmith Madlib for his Beat Conducta in Africa mixtape and the 2012 reissue of the band's first three albums by Now Again Records sparked a massive resurgence of interest in the group. By this time the only surviving original member of W.I.T.C.H., Chanda would come to the West Coast the following year, performing at events hosted by Madlib in Los Angeles and at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco.
Since then, W.I.T.C.H. has become the subject of a new documentary that is still being made with Chandra putting together a new version of the band that includes '80s-era keyboard player Patrick Mwondela and Dutch musicians Jacco Gardner (guitar) and Nic Mauskovic (the original drummer for Turkish psych outfit Altin Gun) that has become a festival favorite in Europe.
The line-up came to the U.S. to play it's first ever American tour in 2019 with a series of dates scheduled around an appearance at the Desert Daze Festival in Southern California. The group has regularly returned to the States for performances ever since, playing South by Southwest in Austin, Texas and the Treefort Music Fest in Idaho as well as delivering a blistering set at the 2022 edition of the Huichica Music Festival in Sonoma.
The band's long gestating new album -- their first in nearly 40 years -- was finally released earlier this year on the Desert Daze Sound imprint in partnership with Partisan Records. Recorded with Jagari's current line-up featuring Mwondela, Gardner, Mauskoviç, percussionist Charlie Garmendia, and guitarists Stefan Lilov and JJ Whitefield, Zango is rooted in the band's original Zamrock sound mixing overdriven psychedelic guitar and kinetic funk while deftly adding modern elements. The effort includes "Avalanche of Love," a collaboration with rising African rapper Sampa the Great (who worked with the group on a song for her 2022 album As Above, So Below) and the powerful closing condemnation of racism and homophobia, "Message from W.I.T.C.H." Zango represents not only a resurrection of Zamrock, but proves the group can still make vital music today. Just last week, the group issued a digital single of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" featuring Zambian vocalists Theresa Ng'Ambi and Hanna Tembo who also appeared on Zango.
For this return visit to San Francisco, W.I.T.C.H. headlines a free concert at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre in McLaren Park Sunday afternoon as part of the city's SF Live initiative. Co-curated by beloved rock club the Bottom of the Hill and Illuminate SF, the show also features local group Bolero!, a crew of young San Francisco artists playing a diverse style of self-described "freak-flag music" indebted to the city's pioneering psychedelic bands from the '60s and '70s, weaving together elements of rock, blues, Latin, jazz, country and soul. SF rapper, songwriter and producer James Wavey opens the show.
W.I.T.C.H. with Bolero! and James Wavey
Sunday, June 16, 1 p.m. Free
McLaren Park