Lonnie Holley presented a special improvised performance at Le Guess Who? 2025 as part of his curation at the festival. Relive this one-off show with our concert film, and listen to the full recording, featuring guest performances by Lee Bains III, Shahzad Ismaily, Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė, Alabaster DePlume and Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff.
His art rises from the ashes of struggle and hardship, but perhaps more importantly, from a furious curiosity and biological necessity to craft, transform something and give it new meaning. Take his sculptures for instance, turning remnants of everyday life into something chaotic, joyous and mysterious, as a reflection of life’s rich complexity. This same spirit pulses through his dense avant-garde blues, in which the groovy and gloomy undertones feel almost undefinable. Above it all soars Lonnie Holley, forever new, lighting up the world’s disarray with his poetry and mesmerizing melodies.
Le Guess Who? Recordings
The publication of this recording is part of Le Guess Who?’s ongoing expansion of the festival’s recordings archive, with 150+ recordings from past editions now freely available online.
This archive contains audio and/or video recordings of performances by Lido Pimienta, Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends featuring Surya Botofasina, The Dwarfs of East Agouza, The Cosmic Tones Research Trio, Ali Sethi & Nicolás Jaar, aja monet, ASA-CHANG & Junray, DARKSIDE, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kamilya Jubran, Alan Sparhawk, Stereolab, Tom Skinner, Selda Bağcan, clipping., Aldous Harding, Deerhunter, Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Microphones, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Arooj Aftab, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, and many more.
Captured at TivoliVredenburg's Ronda on Friday, 7 November 2025.
Lonnie Holley - vocals, keys
Lee Bains III - guitar, vocals
Shahzad Ismaily - bass
Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė - kanklės
Alabaster DePlume - saxophone
Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff - percussion, flute
Direction: Dammes Kieft
Camera: Anaïs Saebu, Emily Duurland, Hannah Zwaans, Jonathan Sipkema, Nicky Pajkić, Rikash Gobardhan, Yuma Eekman, Dammes Kieft
Production: Studio Dammes, Ramon de Lima
Montage & Grade: Thomas de Boer
AC & Datahandling: Dennis Bravenboer
Sound recording: Marc Broer
Photography: 36framez
