On the train home from an unexpectedly awesome gig. Unexpectedly so, because I really only went because I received an invitation from The Arts Centre offering me some tickets. Being the starving artist that I am, I never turn down a freebee!
All I could tell from the invite was that there was going to be African blues music and Senegalese food beforehand. The food was great: I had spicy lamb and vegies in a peanut sauce, which was exactly the comfort food I needed, feeling a little flu-ish.
Heading into Hamer Hall, we passed by a traditional tea brewing ceremony and musicians playing in the foyer. This event was part of The Arts Centre’s multicultural arts series, and they obviously were looking to create a mini-festival-vibe, including letting people take drinks (in plastic glasses) into the auditorium. Why can’t they do that for MSO concerts as well?
The “support act”, King Marong and Afro Mandinko with Jeff Lang, was great, featuring energetic drumming, vocal harmonies, enchanting harp riffs and frenetic dancing. One of the performers was especially captivating to watch as he alternated playing a small West African talking drum with bursts of athletic, frenzied dancing.
But the main act, Tinariwen, was unlike anything I had ever seen or heard. From the moment they walked on stage in desert-style robes and head-turban-thingies they captivated and riveted the audience’s attention and imagination. And their sound – at once exotic and familiar. Arabic-style singing, African beats, moments of hip-hop and many layers of blues-influenced guitar. Throughout all of their songs was a sense of travelling, of constant movement, a feeling of “being on the road”, which is a common thread running through the culture of the blues as well as that of nomadic desert-dwellers.
By the time the musicians left the stage, a good proportion of the audience were dancing in the aisles, some adventurous souls even starting a conga-line on the stage, before being sent off by an unimpressed stage manager.
