Meanwhile, Ball prowls the stage, alternating between gospel-style belting and playful, surrealist rapping, augmented by the call-and-response singing of Anjelika Joseph. They can thrash as hard as a rock band, but swivel effortlessly to funk-based grooves or softer passages that evoke quiet storm R&B. “I kinda feel like we take church on the road,” Ball says. Seeing a Tank and the Bangas show is an exercise in positivity, bringing the spiritual uplift of their church background into a joyful secular context. “There was no other New Orleans band rehearsing like that.” “We did it at night a lot,” adds Allenback. “ two rehearsals a week for as long as we could remember until we started traveling,” says Joshua Johnson, the group’s drummer and musical director. They released their debut album Think Tank in 2013, followed by the 2014 live set The Big Bang Theory: Live at Gasa Gasa, the latter of which showcased Ball’s confidence as a performer and the band’s tightness as a unit, honed over rigorous rehearsal sessions at Ball’s aunt’s house. The group formed in 2011 around a backyard open mic in New Orleans, combining Ball’s championship-winning poetry pedigree – honed as a member of the competitive group of poets and activists in Team Slam New Orleans – with the improvisational chops of the other members, many of whom refined their talents playing music in church. “It’s the same goal in mind, one or one million. “We’d always been turning out little clubs and going hard no matter what,” says Ball, whose supporting players include core members Joshua Johnson, Norman Spence II, Burkett and Allenback, along with touring members Jonathan Johnson, Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph and Danny Abel.
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