Watching Black Coffee Live For The Third Time Changed The Way I Listen To House Music

A Review Of Afro-House DJ Black Coffee’s Legendary Show At Madison Square Garden

Third Time’s A Charm

Black Coffee’s Madison Square Garden show was not my first rodeo with the South African DJ, far from it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the best track record at his shows.

For instance, the first time I went to his show, I fell asleep before he arrived.

I left midway through his set the second time because it was 3:00 a.m.

It's safe to say that it’s been a tumultuous ride with his live sets. The problem was always timing: Black Coffee arrives in the middle of the night, honest to his name. The rumor is that you need Black Coffee to stay awake and witness him live.

Fortunately, at Madison Square Garden, thanks to the venue type, he was billed to start at 9:00 p.m. He talked about playing at the Garden at my second Black Coffee show. We screamed enthusiastically when he brought the idea to us in the stands. Of COURSE, we would like that. How could we not?!?

Therefore, when the tickets dropped, I should have instantly grabbed them.

Instead, I did nothing. I froze.

Suddenly, flashbacks to those first two shows came back.

“What if he took too long to start again? What if I couldn’t stay up?” I thought.

These were all concerns until one work event. I was chatting with one fine lady about music, and Black Coffee came up. It turned out that she loved his albums, too, and even brought up the Garden show. I said I was on the fence about it, but she let me know if I was down, so was she.

So we went.

A Live Orchestra and Live Musician’s

Black Coffee’s show at Madison Square Garden was unlike any other Coffee show I’ve watched in person or online. The performance was practically theater.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Bustling through the long lines on the elevator past the gates, I made my way up to the first floor of the Garden. I lived in Jersey, and my lady friend, let’s call her Ming, lived in Queens. Therefore, we planned to meet at the venue. The Marco Polo game that ensued could have been taken from a script of a great comedy sketch show.

“Hey, I’m here; where are you?” she said.

“I’m on the first floor, near our seats,” I lied (I was in the bathroom).

“Okay, great, I’m going there now,” she replied.

*Looking around for me* “Where are you exactly?” She barked.

“Near our seats,” I lied again.

“Oh, I couldn’t find you, so I left,” she said flatly.

“You what? Come back!” I chuckled.

“Okay, okay, coming now,” she agreed.

*a few minutes pass* “Where are you??” She belts.

“Hey, yeah, I was about to text you; I’m near getting us a drink now,” I reply.

“Okay, don’t move, I’ll meet you there,” She stated firmly.

After meeting up, I bought some drinks for us. We caught up on the time that had passed since the work event. She mentioned the city was busy that night since SZA had a show nearby. I told her that MSG had also been busy lately, hosting John Mayor, Maluma, and Boygenius in the last week.

“There’s a little for everyone here,” she smiled.

“For real,” I responded.

Shortly after we got to our seats, Black Coffee arrived. We couldn’t have had better timing. I guess our search-and-find interlude was worth it. From the start, I saw the orchestra, drummer, and singer in position. Black Coffee was no longer the center of attention. In the middle of the arena, Coffee looked more like a band leader or conductor than a DJ. Unlike the last two shows I saw him perform (mostly because I fell asleep), he played many songs from his Grammy award-winning album, Subconsciously (check out my 2021 review of the project here). Singers like Maxine Ashley and Msaki graced the stage, one after another, like tagged-in runners during a track and field relay race.

Bouncing Feet and Shaking Hips

I loved how Coffee incorporated the instruments, background singers, and DJ booth equipment on the stage. None of the gear interrupted the other. Remarkably, everything flowed like one giant orchestra. Everyone’s coordination was magnificent to see, too. While there was generally no lead, occasionally, Coffee would head the group, especially during transitions or interludes. In these moments, Coffee would guide the crowd into the rhythm we needed to prepare for the next song. The crowd loved these transitional moments as well. Once they sensed it was coming, they would begin roaring like a lion about to conquer his next meal. It was a clear glimpse into a traditional and authentic Black Coffee set for them.

The singers on stage helped create some of the performance’s most pivotal and standout moments. It was beautiful to see all of the singers on stage. DJs rarely have the singers they use for tracks perform their vocals live for shows. Therefore, I truly cherished those moments because of their rarity. The singers sounded good, too. You could tell some of them were nervous, and nearly all were international. Hearing global superstar singers perform their album highlights live felt like a worldly moment. I couldn’t stop smiling and getting more energy when they came on stage. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about us shifting and shaking in the crowd; we wanted the singers to join the fun. Some better performers like Delilah Montagu and Mr. V straight-up danced with us or coordinated the audience like a dance coach. The show was such a blast.

The show was so much fun that there were hardly any butts in the seats. From the third row to the floor seats, everyone was dancing. It was beautiful to see. Ming and I danced more than most of the people in our section. After about an hour and a half, Ming had to rest. The beats still hit us in the face, but her legs were going out. She had a knee injury from the summer that was still healing. I was impressed by how long she was in the groove the night.

A Monumental Moment For Afro-House

Black Coffee gave a remarkable and cathartic 2-hour set. I burned so many calories moving across my section during his show my Fitbit thought I was working out. By the show’s end, I could hear people panting and see them sweating. Still, they were laughing and chatting about their favorite moments. I couldn’t believe the final performance where Coffee brought out Delilah Montagu for their hit song, “Drive.” She appeared on stage like an angel coming down from the heavens. When the song’s opening synths blasted like fireworks, the crowd partied harder than they did all night. Montagu looked a little shy, but once she opened her mouth and started singing song lyrics we all knew and sang along to, she matched our energy perfectly.

Like his singers, Black Coffee warmed up slowly but surely over time in his career. Coffee’s uniquely positioned status in house music now deserves finer attention and praise. For instance, in DJ Mag’s 2022 Top 100 DJ list, Black Coffee ranked 39. He was the only African in the top 40. House music is a generally Euro-centric DJ space. Therefore, Coffee brings such a unique perspective to sound at the highest level of the art form.

For example, Coffee is skilled in incorporating southern Africa’s riddims and regional languages into house music’s traditional structure. Additionally, and perhaps more evidently during his show, Coffee’s live DJ decisions are simply top-tier. He knows how to give the audience faster or slower beats throughout a performance. His music is naturally high energy without hogging up too much space. He’s also an intuitive player who allows certain rhythms to go on slightly longer based on the crowd’s energy. Throughout all of these waves of sounds is a remarkably poised-faced DJ. Even when he’s smiling, it’s more of a smirk, like he’s proud of what he’s been able to do.

I could only imagine what Coffee saw in the crowd that night, but Madison Square Garden felt like a rave for me. Halfway through the set, I just remembered where I was. I could have been at Brooklyn Mirage or DC-1; it didn’t matter. The joy and happiness I saw on people’s faces reminded me of music’s psychological and visceral power. Coffee is aware of music’s ability to move us, too. His music subconsciously drives the muscles and opens the mind. I loved the world-expanding euphoria and audio ecstasy embedded into his music. That night in the Garden reminded me how many of us are searching for that feeling.

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