Sampa The Great To Play A Free Surprise Show In Melbourne Tomorrow Afternoon

If you attended Sampa The Great's show at Hamer Hall tonight, you heard this announcement: the Zambian musician, poet, and songwriter will perform a free surprise show at the Arts Centre Melbourne Forecourt tomorrow afternoon!

To close Victoria's ALWAYS LIVE program, she will take the Soundbox stage at 1 pm and close the proceedings with a bang. As she only revealed news about the show tonight on stage, and there are less than 24 hours between the announce date and time, we're sharing the information tonight for any night owls who haven't made Saturday afternoon plans.

Witness Sampa The Great perform songs from her excellent new album, As Above, So Below, including the track Never Forget featured on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack and instant classic Let Me Be Great ft. Angelique Kidjo and much more. It's going to be a perfect, sunny 24-degree day in Melbourne tomorrow, so if you can make it to the city on short notice, you won't want to miss out.

As Above, So Below is the result of Sampa relocating to Zambia during the pandemic, as she reconnected with a different side of herself, one attached to the younger artistry that she nourished growing up in Africa. The studio sessions included collaborations with South Africa-based creatives Rochelle Nembhard and Imraan Christian, as well as a long-established network of close friends and family.

We watched Sampa The Great present An Afro Future earlier this year. A spellbinding show, the performer was backed by an all-Zambian band - “the first all-Zambian band to play Coachella, the first all-Zambian band to play the Sydney Opera House”. We remarked on the moment that blew the roof off the place: the spectacular Final Form.  

"This was an all-out assault on the senses - in the best possible way - with the frenetic dance troupe pushing to the very borders of the stage, calling on the crowd to lose themselves before congregating around their band leader to dance in unison," Shaun Colnan wrote.

Don't miss Sampa The Great tomorrow afternoon, Melbourne.