It's not easy following in the footsteps of a superstar father, as Julian Lennon and Ziggy Marley discovered. Seun Kuti is the son of Fela Kuti, the wildly inventive Nigerian singer, songwriter and saxophonist, who has acquired legendary status since his death from Aids seven years ago. Following in his father's footsteps, Seun is also competing with his older brother, Femi, an established singer and songwriter.

Seun, Fela's youngest son and still only 22, is trying a different tactic - acting as his father's clone. He performs Fela's songs, is backed by Fela's band, Egypt 80, and was an obvious choice to launch the first weekend of the Fela Kuti festival at the Barbican. Comparisons between father and son were inevitable, especially as the show opened with archive footage of Fela playing back at his famous club, the Shrine, in Ikeja outside Lagos. When I saw him at the Shrine 10 years ago, Fela played a lengthy, exhilarating set that mixed African chanting with Western funk and jazz, as the much-jailed star railed against the Abacha military government.

There was no such sense of danger from Seun, who provided an efficient reminder of Fela's remarkable musical skills with a set based around two lengthy songs from the 1970s, Shuffering and Shmiling, and Kalakuta Show. His dad's band were on rousing form, especially when reunited with their star drummer Tony Allen, while Seun proved to be a competent saxophonist and singer. He was only nine when he started playing with them, and knew all his father's moves, predictably stripping to the waist by the end.

This ought to have been a piece of African music history but it felt like watching a good tribute band. No one can perform Fela like the man himself.

· The Barbican's Fela Kuti festival continues next weekend. Box office: 0845 120 7511.