Rocklab

With a career spanning four decades, Grupo Pilon have crossed a century, a millenium, countless fashions, and are still here! The Funana Pioneers from Luxembourg and Cabo Verde invite you to celebrate the release of their fifth album “Nu Sta Li” (We Are Here).

Expect a dynamic blend of live music with lots of heritage and discover these legends live at the Club of the Rockhal on September 21. They will be supported by Grupo Rabecada.

Grupo Pilon are a Cape Verdean band founded in the 80s, in the Gare district of Luxembourg City, by adolescents, children of the first Cape Verdeans who came to settle in Luxembourg in the 70s. Their musical style is « Funana », originating from the island of Santiago, and is the once prohibited music from the time of the Portuguese colonizers, because it was considered subversive.

Composed of self-taught musicians, the band set out to create something of their own and are known to have a very unique style! Their 40-year career made them play countless shows, such as a memorable gig in Praia, Cabo Verde in front of 4000 people, shows in the United States, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and the United Kingdom and had them sign with New-York based label Ostinato Records.

The new longplayer « Nu Sta Li » is an album that represents the compromise of Grupo Pilon with their culture. Through this album, the band pay tribute to their glorious elders who had known how to elevate their music to the level of excellence. During a long time, Funana was played by the peasants of Santiago using an accordion and an iron bar to beat out the rhythm with a knife. Today, Grupo Pilon’s absolute reference is the band Bulimundo and their mentor Carlos Alberto Silva Martins aka « Katxas », who revolutionized Funana by introducing electric instruments