1st Birthday Celebration: Karaka

There are live shows, and then there are the ones you walk away from knowing you’ve just witnessed something truly special. For us, Karaka Orchestra is quite literally the best live show we’ve seen all year — so of course we had to bring them back for our first birthday.

Led by composer and interdisciplinary artist Chucho Bruno, Karaka Orchestra moves through Afrobeat, jazz, soul, Latin grooves and cinematic soundscapes, driven by hypnotic percussion, soaring horns and deep, irresistible bass.

But this is no ordinary live band.

Chucho conducts the orchestra in real time using a sign-language system developed in South America, directing the musicians through gesture, cue and spontaneous composition. There’s no set list and no predetermined path. Every performance is created in the room, shaped by the musicians, the audience and whatever happens in that exact moment. No two Karaka Orchestra shows can ever be the same.

It’s fearless, euphoric and completely alive — part concert, part ceremony, part dance-floor takeover.

On Saturday 3 October, Karaka Orchestra return to Mirrorball Ministries with special guests for our First Birthday Celebrations.

We genuinely cannot think of a better band to soundtrack one year beneath the mirror ball.

Come ready to move!