IT TAKES A bit to get me to commit to a boat party. After all, there's no escape. If you get bored, start feeling the effects of too much sun, or just aren't feeling the music, it doesn't matter – you're stuck there until the boat returns to the dock. But the chance to catch Afro-Mystik live before they start their U.S. tour, coupled with postcard-worthy weather and sets from J Boogie, Kaskade, and the Kinkyfunk bunch, proved too much of a temptation to miss.

The Kinkyfunk and Om Records production got off to a slow start. Though the evening was billed as a "sunset cruise," the large crowd was going nowhere well after the scheduled departure time. Thankfully, Charlie Tate, a.k.a. King Kooba, had the bright idea to avoid the crush by enjoying frosty beverages at the café next door. Still, despite the pleasant pastime, we spent a good half-hour in line, waiting to be thoroughly searched by security before boarding.

After another few hours, with the boat finally setting sail and J Boogie delivering some nice dancehall deck work, Afro-Mystik took the, er, prow. Needless to say, the Spirit of San Francisco is not specifically designed for live performance, and there was no stage, but the Om crew did an admirable job setting up the band in the glassed-in bow of the main deck. The resulting sound was very bass-heavy in front but remarkably decent farther back, and adequate sound-checking had ensured that singer Omega wasn't completely lost in the thunder of drums.

And drums were what Afro-Mystik's set was all about. Just as their new album, Morphology (Om), focuses on layers of percussion, A-M's live sound was completely dominated by the interplay of polyrhythms banged out on kit by Simone White (The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy), programmed by producer Chris Smith, and slapped into life by JSN (Jason Kadlec) and Carlos Araiza on congas, timbales, and other percussion. White and Smith kept low profiles at the edges of the band – White competently keeping time with subtle flair as Smith triggered loops and occasionally picked up a twister drum or a cuica for still more texture. Instead all eyes and ears were on JSN and Araiza, who brought the heat of Afro-Cuban beats to life. Araiza snapped out sharp accents on the timbales before dropping his sticks and grabbing his flute to send out a snatch of melody, while JSN was the true animator of the show, curly locks flying and skinny arms flailing as he freaked an assortment of hand drums and congas.

This frenzy of rhythm reached its zenith with the relentless "Samba del Alma," which easily topped 160 beats per minute and saw many of the front-row dancers risk injury (and embarrassment) to keep pace. Though Morphology gives listeners chances to breathe with slower, sparser tracks, Afro-Mystik's live performance showed no mercy for the weary, keeping the pace high and only occasionally dropping the sound down as JSN and Araiza soloed. In a club setting, the frenetic tempo and wall of sound would undoubtedly be overwhelming, and I found myself wishing for a little more melody or a guest spot on the mic from Capitol A, whose appearances on the album are stellar.

Fortunately, less densely arranged songs, such as "Follow Me" and the closing number, "Natural," allowed vocalist Omega to take back some of the spotlight, and her classy delivery and understated confidence were refreshingly devoid of any divaesque grandstanding. It takes a real queen to share her space with overenthusiastic dancers and still totally command center stage.