It's a bad sign when the audience barely outnumbers the performers on stage--as was the case Sunday night when Oliver de Coque and his 10-piece ensemble appeared at the Music Machine. But a better measure of the Nigerian guitarist's performance was the fact that the small crowd packed itself on the dance floor for the marathon 2 1/2-hour set, and a steady stream of fans observed the traditional Nigerian custom of plastering money on De Coque's forehead.
De Coque's "ogene" style is rooted in the music of eastern Nigeria's Ibo tribe, and though his clear, trebly guitar tone recalled juju king King Sunny Ade (a Yoruba), the absence of talking drums in De Coque's band underscored the difference in styles. The burly, amiable De Coque worked in some rock-star maneuvers--his favorite move was bracing the butt end of his guitar against his stomach and aiming a machine-gun lick at the crowd.
