VICTOR, Idaho — Victor City Park was alive with music and dance on Thursday, July 10, as West African band Bamba Wassoulou Groove (BWG) performed at the weekly Music on Main summer concert series.
The band, hailing from Mali, has been on a North American tour this summer, with stops in California and the Pacific Northwest. Music on Main Program Director Tibby Plasse says that she aims to include world rhythms in the lineup every summer. Plasse notes that recent sets by world music acts Jon Roberts y Pan Blanco (in 2023) and ZiMBiRA (in 2024) were big hits.
“With both of those concerts, I was cornered every five minutes by someone telling me this is what they want to hear at Music on Main, or this is what they hear in their head when they think about Music on Main,” Plasse told Buckrail via email. “Mountain towns and world music just fuse well with another,” she added.
Music on Main is celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer, and Plasse noted that the BWG show was a “quintessential” example of a Music on Main event: “a little scrappy and completely satisfying!”
“We are as grassroots as ever — and that’s something that we probably have in common with the band,” Plasse said.
BWG had a bit of a mix-up making its way to the Music on Main stage — the musicians found themselves in Victor, Montana, at 2 p.m. on the day of the show, when they were supposed to be soundchecking. The band hightailed it down to Victor, Idaho, in time to do a one-minute sound check and then play a 90-minute set. Jason Fritts Project, the opening act, was game to play a longer set until the headliners arrived, Plasse said.
“Things happen and you have to roll with it,” she said. “Producing outdoor concerts that are mostly fueled by volunteers and many generous supporters to help keep the shows free is entirely a gamble, and nights like Bamba Wassoulou Groove make it totally worth it. … You just find a way to make it happen.”
