FEMI KUTI, BELA FLECK AND TOUMANI DIABATE, Red Butte Garden Amphitheater, June 14

Femi Kuti's positive force may not have yet ended the corruption in Nigeria, but it did a pretty good job of clearing out yet another downpour Sunday at Red Butte Garden.

The clouds broke just as openers Bela Fleck and Toumani Diabate came to the stage, ushering in an unexpectedly clear and surprisingly cold night. The duo played a musically astounding string of songs that gave the waterlogged crowd a chance to stretch their legs and eat their dinners without challenging them to move.

Their set, as expected anytime Fleck takes the stage, demanded and received admiration. What it did not accomplish was movement for most people, something sorely needed by the time Kuti and his 14-piece Positive Force band hit the stage. With trumpets blaring, drums pounding and rumps both onstage and off shaking, Kuti and company immediately got everyone — from toddlers to grandparents — on their feet, dancing, twisting and bouncing. Resisting the lure of Kuti is nearly impossible, even on a pleasant evening, but on a cold night, his nonstop Afrobeat tunes are probably the best defense against a chill.

Luckily for the crowd, Kuti seemed to understand their need to move, as he took almost no breaks between songs for either tuning or talking. In fact, the closest thing to breaks were the beginnings of songs such as "You Better Ask Yourself," an initially slow jam that featured Kuti essentially soloing on trumpet.

Even those lasted barely a minute, however, before the full band with all of its thunder would join to fracas. Known as much for his activism as his music, to truly appreciate Kuti one needs to see him live (something everyone should do, at least once). In the musical chaos, he carries the messages of love and peace, the two things which he is convinced will change the world for the better, even when his words may indicate different times.

While his lyrics could not be more direct, in a live setting, those calls to action take a back seat to the music. Even a song as precise as "Stop AIDS" is played in a way that pushes people to dance with a smile on their face — which is exactly what Kuti wants from his audience — and while "One Two" may attack all governments as corrupt, the techno-like beat and infectious chorus is impossible for dancing feet to ignore.

Almost half of Kuti's set came from his new album, "Day By Day," including the title track which, although relatively more subdued, still had Kuti prowling the stage and encouraging the crowd to sing along: "Day by day / Night by night / We work and pray / For peace to reign."

Played near the end of the show, it provided both a concise summary of his core beliefs and an optimism that would follow people out of the gates.

By the time Kuti finished, nobody cared that he didn't play an encore. Kuti delivered everything a crowd could want, especially one as cold and soaked as the one at Red Butte.

E-mail: jolftin@desnews.com