Tank and the Bangas

Genres: Funk, Soul, Hip-hop

New Orleans-based Tank and the Bangas bring their unpredictably eclectic blend of soulful funk, jazzy rock, and hip-hop to the Rackham Stage this summer. Founding members vocalist Tank Ball, bassist Norman Spence, and drummer Joshua Johnson met at an open mic night in New Orleans in 2011, went on to release their first album two years later, and eventually won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. Now a two-time Grammy Award-nominated band, Tank and the Bangas is fresh off the heels of their latest release Red Balloon, a sonically diverse selection of songs designed to be vibed with that are passionate about social issues yet joyful in scope and thoroughly danceable. Ball has found vocal inspiration from musicians like Donny Hathaway, the women of SWV, and Nina Simone, with the band’s biggest collective influence in recent years being Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. Experience their high-energy live show, heralded by some as one of the best in America, at Top of the Park this summer!