Widescreen review: Tinariwen Live in London
April 24, 2009If you’re familiar with Touareg group Tinariwen, you’ll know what’s in store on this disc capturing their 2007 performance at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire.
However, if this is your introduction, I recommend you head straight to the extras to watch the hour-long interview with group founder, Ibrahim Ag Alhabib.
The Touareg are nomadic desert people, domicile in North Western Africa. Sitting around a campfire, Alhabib speaks of his childhood, one that fast-tracked him into maturity much before any child should be. When he was young, his father was murdered by the Malian government, and he was forced into exile in Algeria. Alhabib’s destiny was as a freedom fighter. And one that was to be entwined with music. Fighting in the Touareg resistance for many years, Alhabib found a guitar and was instantly absorbed. His guitar became more powerful to him than any weapon of warfare. Tinariwen are artists and soldiers, a combination that seems almost unnatural. With music as a therapy, and an expression of freedom, the band have built their success, and now tour the world with their sounds of home. The concert itself is a form of near-hypnosis, the audience mesmerised by the sounds of The Sahara – but not enough to stop them singing along. Here, you don’t so much enjoy the music but absorb it; hear the story first, and with that history, let the music seep into your skin.
Extras: Interviews, mini documentary and ‘How to Tie a Shesh’.
Rated: Exempt
Independente/Shock
Julia Gaw
