*It's been a while since "I've checked a gig":http://mog.com/LadyC/blog_post/49228 or had a night out.* I haven't traveled enough these days...missing my once regular jaunts through Zurich, Dublin and Paris. My last great anticipation "cancelled":http://mog.com/LadyC/blog_post/55167 and there really wasn't any other event that I felt lived up to the live experience until now. With festival May still weeks away, I decided to take my refund and not only organize a 4 day trip to Paris (a different gig/venue each night and a train this afternoon!) but also treat us to a concert of the much celebrated and respected Mali band "Tinariwen":http://mog.com/music/Tinariwen.With the heat descending on us more each day, the line-up including Sengal musician "Amadou Sabaly":http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=Amadou+Sabaly&btnG=Rechercher&meta=lr%3Dlang_fr seemed more than fitting.*"Ninkasi Kao":http://www.ninkasi.fr/ is a trying venue when packed and overheated* so this night was going to be our first summer-like concert of the year and probably very uncomfortable.My only complaint with popular venues like this is that I have to wonder if the owners/managers respect truly the musicians and fans of music as much as they claim. I am astounded by how many international iconic venues __still__ have bad bar service, insufficient ventilation, mediocre sound and the other various nuisances that us music fans...probably secretly love, ha it's ironic isn't it?!We arrived just in time to catch the opening of Sabaly (who unfortunately doesn't have a large internet presence so I am without adequate links) which was quietly political and beautifully mixing traditional song with rhythmic percussion and heavy, heavy drum beats. Us happy sardines swayed with fresh beers in hand.As they played, the members of Tinariwen wandered among the crowd with many admirers chatting to them and praising their work. I really love artists that do that. It was a little surreal to see them with their bright traditional flowing robes mingling with us sweaty casuals, it made me more excited to see them strap on their guitars!*Tinariwen are from Mali and have been making music for almost two decades.* Surprisingly, their first international CD release was only in 2000. They slowly made their recognition through international festivals, the first big break primarily being the "The Festival in the Desert":http://www.festival-au-desert.org/, and various media outlets, namely the UK music press of whom I first heard of them. The mix of Tuareg rebel songs, electric guitars, bass and percussion have their style dubbed as the 'Mali Blues'.Western artists including Robert Plant and Carlos Santana have collaborated with Tinariwen since.*The 10 members got on stage to a full house* and gave us a phenomenal 2 hour performance. Many of the people, as diverse in age and colour as I had hoped, included enthusiastic Arabic/African fans who sang and throat called to my delight.The songs of this special desert blues are slow enough to be enchanting yet too fast to be a sit down experience. The guitar playing was not especially intricate yet the melange of the two worlds, occidental and oriental, made the songs very powerful, playful and really collectively enjoyable. Tinariwen didn't even introduce the electric guitars until later in their career so the sight of them on stage is pretty unique. Nevermind how much joy and playfulness the live show is, especially between the flirty bass player and the striking female singer Nina!The concert ended with a 3 song encore and a brave young Tuareg man who attempted to speak on the translations of the band's music. He eloquently began reciting a poem he conceived from the difficulty of the task when a very inebriated man continuously interrupted his efforts. Another man stood up on stage and took over in explaining the background of the desert people and the meanings of the band, songs and plight. The stage lights dimmed and the young interrupted poet quietly stepped off stage. We never heard his poem...*Only 2 mog members have posted* anything on Tinariwen so I hope that this will be a worthy addition. Check them out if you have the opportunity.OK, it's already almost noon here in Lyon, I better sign off. Off to Paris!*Links*"Mog Tinariwen Pages":http://mog.com/music/Tinariwen"Tinariwen Official Site":http://www.tinariwen.com/"More on Tuareg Culture":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg
mktackabery says
wow, great writeup and intro, I had not caught the other MOG posts LadyC. I adore this stuff. Sounds like quite the interesting trip. Hope you post some piccies on the Multiply.
Kate says
You lucky gal! I would love to see Tinariwen play again, especially with the release of their new album. But alas, they are only playing Europe this time around. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.
KURI says
Great review and sounds like a wonderful time. I was fortunate to come across Tinariwen about 4 years ago when a couple friends attended the Festival In The Desert - talk about an adventure! Just getting there takes days.
Anyway I only got to see them for the first time last year in an outdoor setting and they were quite good and obviously have a distinctive sound.
*It's been a while since "I've checked a gig":http://mog.com/LadyC/blog_post/49228 or had a night out.* I haven't traveled enough these days...missing my once regular jaunts through Zurich, Dublin and Paris. My last great anticipation "cancelled":http://mog.com/LadyC/blog_post/55167 and there really wasn't any other event that I felt lived up to the live experience until now. With festival May still weeks away, I decided to take my refund and not only organize a 4 day trip to Paris (a different gig/venue each night and a train this afternoon!) but also treat us to a concert of the much celebrated and respected Mali band "Tinariwen":http://mog.com/music/Tinariwen.With the heat descending on us more each day, the line-up including Sengal musician "Amadou Sabaly":http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=Amadou+Sabaly&btnG=Rechercher&meta=lr%3Dlang_fr seemed more than fitting.
*"Ninkasi Kao":http://www.ninkasi.fr/ is a trying venue when packed and overheated* so this night was going to be our first summer-like concert of the year and probably very uncomfortable.My only complaint with popular venues like this is that I have to wonder if the owners/managers respect truly the musicians and fans of music as much as they claim. I am astounded by how many international iconic venues __still__ have bad bar service, insufficient ventilation, mediocre sound and the other various nuisances that us music fans...probably secretly love, ha it's ironic isn't it?!We arrived just in time to catch the opening of Sabaly (who unfortunately doesn't have a large internet presence so I am without adequate links) which was quietly political and beautifully mixing traditional song with rhythmic percussion and heavy, heavy drum beats. Us happy sardines swayed with fresh beers in hand.As they played, the members of Tinariwen wandered among the crowd with many admirers chatting to them and praising their work. I really love artists that do that. It was a little surreal to see them with their bright traditional flowing robes mingling with us sweaty casuals, it made me more excited to see them strap on their guitars!
*Tinariwen are from Mali and have been making music for almost two decades.* Surprisingly, their first international CD release was only in 2000. They slowly made their recognition through international festivals, the first big break primarily being the "The Festival in the Desert":http://www.festival-au-desert.org/, and various media outlets, namely the UK music press of whom I first heard of them. The mix of Tuareg rebel songs, electric guitars, bass and percussion have their style dubbed as the 'Mali Blues'.Western artists including Robert Plant and Carlos Santana have collaborated with Tinariwen since.*The 10 members got on stage to a full house* and gave us a phenomenal 2 hour performance. Many of the people, as diverse in age and colour as I had hoped, included enthusiastic Arabic/African fans who sang and throat called to my delight.The songs of this special desert blues are slow enough to be enchanting yet too fast to be a sit down experience. The guitar playing was not especially intricate yet the melange of the two worlds, occidental and oriental, made the songs very powerful, playful and really collectively enjoyable. Tinariwen didn't even introduce the electric guitars until later in their career so the sight of them on stage is pretty unique. Nevermind how much joy and playfulness the live show is, especially between the flirty bass player and the striking female singer Nina!The concert ended with a 3 song encore and a brave young Tuareg man who attempted to speak on the translations of the band's music. He eloquently began reciting a poem he conceived from the difficulty of the task when a very inebriated man continuously interrupted his efforts. Another man stood up on stage and took over in explaining the background of the desert people and the meanings of the band, songs and plight. The stage lights dimmed and the young interrupted poet quietly stepped off stage. We never heard his poem...
*Only 2 mog members have posted* anything on Tinariwen so I hope that this will be a worthy addition. Check them out if you have the opportunity.OK, it's already almost noon here in Lyon, I better sign off. Off to Paris!*Links*"Mog Tinariwen Pages":http://mog.com/music/Tinariwen"Tinariwen Official Site":http://www.tinariwen.com/"More on Tuareg Culture":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg
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