Our ESSENCE Fest stages have been known to make or break many artists. Whether they are singers, rappers, dancers or all of the above, they come ready to put on a show.
For the past 21 years, the ESSENCE Festival has also had a hand in catapulting the careers of the biggest names in music. To keep up our reputation for our commitment to quality performance, we hand selected a few new groups for our over 500,000 attendees to meet.
Get to know newcomers Tank and The Bangas before they hit the Ford SuperLounge stage, this July in this “5 Things You Should Know.”
1. Tank and The Bangas is a 10-person ensemble made up of talented New Orleans’ singers and musicians, led by poet Terriona ‘Tank’ Bell.
The group credits their inevitable meeting to “Jerk Chicken Sam’iches,” a drum set and local open mic. They met in 2011 and have already performed on some of the biggest stages in their hometown.
2. Their music is like Gumbo—You get a bit of everything and you’ll leave wanting more.
On the groups’ official site, they compare their Rock-Gospel-Soul-Funk fused genre to one of New Orleans’ staple dishes: Gumbo. “If you’re from New Orleans, you know all the ingredients to make a good gumbo. Your seasonings have to mix well, your roux has to be thick, and your meat has to be cut to perfection. Tank and The Bangas are what you call a great gumbo!”
3. Their energy-filled stage performance is inspired by the groups’ fascination with Animé and Tank’s obsession with Disney.
The group recently performed at the New Orleans Jazz Fest and footage of their performance proves just how Tank desribes “childlike,” and “magical,” they want their performance to be.
4. The group lived through Katrina and the experience only made their music stronger. They told us, “You can find beauty in something like a disaster at the moment you are inspired to create something new with the left over pieces. For us music is what we made from those pieces.”
5. The group often writes about their experiences in Walmart, Winn Dixie and Whole Foods.
With lead singer Tank’s background as a profound spoken-word artist, she inspires the group to sing about everyday situations. In a recent interview, she described the content as getting a peak inside of what the group “talks about everyday.”
Get to know more about the group in this interview with NOLA.com.
Don’t miss Tank and The Bangas or any of our great performers. Buy your tickets to ESSENCE Fest 2015, today. Single Night Tickets are available now.