Tank and the Bangas bring genre-fluid soul and poetry to KiMo Theatre

Tank and the Bangas are bringing the heart, mind and soul of the Big Easy to KiMo Theatre on Friday, Jan. 23.

“It’s a very fun and energetic live show,” Tarriona “Tank” Ball, lead vocalist, said.

Tank and the Bangas formed over a decade ago in New Orleans and have since released multiple albums, won a Grammy and performed all over the world.

Ball described the band’s music as a mix of genres.

“It’s just full of spoken word and soul and hip-hop and rock and folk and anything we want to play honestly, at that moment,” Ball said. “We just let the creative vibe take over wherever it wants to go.”

Norman Spence, the band’s multi-instrumentalist, said they are a genre-fluid band trying to tap into sincere, soulful music.

He said the band is doing God’s work and through the music, he hopes audiences are impacted on spiritual and emotional levels. He also enjoys this emotional aspect for himself when performing.

“I don’t have a favorite song to perform,” Spence said. “I just like performing … to be able to express whatever you’re feeling in that moment.”

Ball said the shows have a warm, intimate vibe because the venues they play are usually small. She said fans are drawn to the shows not only for the atmosphere, but for the uniqueness of each show.

“Anybody can tell you they’ve never been to a Tank and the Bangas show twice, because it’s always, always different,” Ball said, “because we spend intentional time changing the arrangements of things all the time to keep it fresh and cool and exciting.”

Ball said as an artist, she enjoys feeling like a poet, a singer and sometimes rapper as she performs.

She said she can show all sides of herself through the songs, with each one having its own feeling. She hopes audiences feel the freedom of the music during performances.

“Freedom that they could be what they want to be, and choose the type of career that they want to choose,” Ball said.

“Music is not to make you choose music, but to choose yourself,” Ball said.

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.