Adrian Phillips reaches for the cod liver oil as he recuperates from a Staff Benda Bilili gig. "I’ve been to some amazing gigs and, hopefully, I will go to more, but for raw, pulsating energy and sheer joy of the music I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything quite like Staff Benda Bilili at the O2 in Oxford on Friday night.

The band have been getting a lot of coverage from the music press, the broadsheets and TV since they’ve been in the country, but for those not au faux with them they are a group of, mainly, paraplegic street musicians who live in and around the grounds of Kinshasa Zoo in the Congo.

Their album Tres Tres Fort has had repeated plays from me since it came out in March, but excellent as it is, does not do them full justice. From the rousing welcome they were given by a largely white, middle-aged and middle-class audience to their reluctant departure 105 minutes later, the sounds they made grabbed hold and refused to let go.

A throbbing Afro-beat laced with latin and cuban rythms produced tunes that spread the widest of smiles on both the throng and the players and even on the slower numbers the movement of aging limbs was never far away (I had to reach for the cod liver oil the next day).

Lyrical meaning didn’t get in the way and there was no ‘chat’ in between songs which helped to drive the night along. The band played with no pretention or ego and never has the fact that music has no barriers to connecting the human race been better demonstrated.

Forget JLS, Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas – this is real dance music.

Adrian Phillips runs TunaTheDay catch up with his adventures and recommendations. But before you hop over there, here's some of our picks of the many Staff Benda Bilili videos on You Tube.

Staff Benda Bilili - Trailer

Staff Benda Bilili - Je t'aime

Adrian's footage from the O2