Bongo Joe: 10 Year Anniversary - Night 2: Damily, Cyril Cyril, Iko Chérie

"After seeing many of our artists perform at Cafe Oto over the past decade, we’re truly honored to host two nights in this iconic venue as part of our 10 Year Anniversary Tour."

Saturday 24 Jan

Damily, Cyril Cyril, Iko Chérie

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Cyril Cyril

Cyril Cyril repeats itself as a reflection would in infinite mirrors. A vagabond rumour, borrowed from age old whispers, beyond Mounts Atlas and Ararat, to whomever is willing to hear the echo of thousands of places where melodies hummed by angels and drums are beaten continuously since the birth of mankind. With their ufo-banjo, strange drums, multiples voices and languages as their sole companions, Cyril Yeterian & Cyril Bondi cut a groove from the soul and transcends, for a few tracks a time, the good manners of damned souls. The tandem, disguised as an ghost-like fanfare, rises like a phoenix on the dance floor…

Damily

Born in 1968 in Tongobory, in southern Madagascar, Damily is one of the pioneers and most important ambassadors of tsapiky — the effervescent music that emerged in Toliara in the 1980s, at the crossroads of rock, traditional rituals, and collective trance. More than a style, tsapiky is a context: that of the mandriampototsy, village ceremonies lasting days and nights, blending healing, possession, and ancestral celebration. Musicians play without interruption, carried by the energy of the community. It is in this crucible that Damily forged his art: a handmade guitar, makeshift amplifiers, a saturated, tense, urgent sound — music born of dust, heat, and necessity. It is in this spirit that Fanjiry was born. After the ecstatic Fihisa sessions — recorded in the Malagasy bush under a cyclone — Damily returns to a more intimate approach: a one-to-one dialogue with his guitar. He composes, explores, rearranges, and seeks to “fill the sonic space” differently.

Iko Chérie

Iko Chérie is the moniker of French multi-instrumentalist, producer and selector Marie Merlet. Her eclectic and carefully curated sets reflect her broad musical taste and cross genre boundaries, digging into experimental gems, psychedelic grooves, ambient dubs and underground pop from around the world.

A resident of Total Refreshment Centre, Marie collaborates with many groups, one of her main outlets is psychedelic cumbia outfit Malphino, but she has also been a player with the likes of Yama Warashi, Stereolab, Donna Thompson, Isidora and Gina Birch (The Raincoats).

As a solo artist Iko Chérie feels most at home in woozy textures and analog noises, her latest album Soft Centre was released in November 2025 on Pingipung Records (Anadol, Pierre Bastien). She also has a monthly show on Soho radio where she celebrates women in music.

Baba Yaga's Hut

All ages