Secret Planet Presents: Bab L'Bluz | SOROCHE, Valentina at Songbyrd DC

Name: Secret Planet Presents: Bab L'Bluz | SOROCHE, Valentina at Songbyrd DC
Start: 2026-04-03T19:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-04-03T23:00:00-04:00
Location: 540 Penn St NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA

Schedule

Fri Apr 03 2026 at 07:00 pm to 11:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

540 Penn St NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA | Washington, DC

Secret Planet Presents
April 3, 2026
Bab L’ Bluz, meaning “The Door of the Blues,” is a Franco-Moroccan group formed in 2018 in Marrakech when Moroccan singer/guitarist Yousra Mansour met French guitarist/producer Brice Bottin. Driven by their passion for Gnawa music, they learned the guembri together, creating a fusion of French and Moroccan influences that birthed a repertoire of 10 tracks.
With their electric guembris, Bab L’ Bluz combines Gnawa trance rhythms, Hassani songs from southern Morocco, and Chaâbi polyrhythms, infusing their music with elements of psychedelic rock and incense-filled atmospheres. Led by a female doukkalia, the group aligns with the “Nayda” movement of Moroccan youth, promoting local heritage and singing freedom-inspired texts in Moroccan-Arabic dialect, darija.
Since their inception, the quartet has been active globally, captivating audiences with their hypnotic riffs and mystical, liberating performances. Bab L’ Bluz’s poetic and powerful music transcends boundaries, expanding into a sonic territory of its own.
In 2020, they gained acclaim with their album Nayda!, earning top rankings and reviews from Mojo, Songlines, The New York Times, Vogue Arabia, BBC, and others. The following year, they won their first Songlines Music Award and embarked on a world tour that continues to captivate audiences. Their new album Swaken was released on May 10, 2024.
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Born in DC, based in Baltimore, SOROCHE seeks to transmogrify Cumbia, Punk, Ska, Folk, and everything in between into a danceable alchemy that crosses cultural dancefloors.
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Valentina is a Chicanx community organizer and DJ for over 15 years currently residing in Baltimore. Digging in their favorite record stores they have curated an arsenal of the obscure, evocative, and important to serve dance floors with their all vinyl sets crafting their brujeria of sound, held heavily in their culture and being.