festival in the desert

there's a rumour circulating that i may be off to mali in january of next year
to attend the annual festival in the desert literally in the sahara desert
a couple of hours overland from timbuktu
one of the highlights of my every year is attending womadelaide
a couple of years ago i started venturing further afield and went to the rainforest world music festival
also an annual event in malaysian borneo that confirmed my love of the world's music
i mentioned to max my fellow womad visitor that ha-ha we should go to mali one year
the wheels are now in motion as max is a motivated kind of person
we have a core group of 6 middle aged music industry blokes who have their hands up
thinking back what really spurred me on was seeing tinariwen in concert at womadelaide
they are a tourag band from the sahara and a regular at the festival in the desert
4 gentlemen dressed in traditional flowing robes and full head dress
each with a beautiful shiny electric guitar and accompanied by a percussionist and female vocalist
they play blues-based, rock-oriented, trance-inducing guitar music with indecipheral lyrics
totally stole the show on a beautiful warm balmy evening in adelaide and have been lodged in my head ever since
so when i saw this dvd on sale and noticed said band was on the bill it very quickly transferred to my possession
max sent me a vanity fair article during the week about a similar bunch of music industry dudes
one chris blackwell of island records and another jimmy buffett of carribean soul fame
making the trek to festival in the desert earlier this year and having a brilliant time
i'm now getting very excited about the prospect of the planned trip for next year
so tonight as part of that i once again fired up the trusty projector and indulged myself
the film starts with the construction of the stage literally in the middle of the desert
there's camels, a few large trees and a few more larger sand dunes
sand, sand and more sand it seems as far as the eye can see
and the familiar sounds of tinariwen providing the soundtrack as we witness the preparation of the site
then we're in darkness and presumably underway with the first night of the 2003 festival
tartit open proceedings - an all female vocal group with a single drum delivering a chant like sound
they make way for the beautiful oumou sangare accompanied by ali farke toure (rip)
she the queen of mali music, he the king, presumably collaborating as they often would
there's interviews with both of them and they are both very happy and relaxed
french group lo'jo are up next and deliver a stunning set as they did at womadelaide a few years ago
i can't imagine what the sound would be like at the festival but based on this dvd it is beautifully clean
every instrument used by lo'jo can be heard very distinctly and the vocals likewise are loud and clear
tinariwen are then on stage laying down their familiar groove sound to a very receptive audience
the next performer is no less than robert plant who apparantly is a big fan of all things world (music)
he seems quite humbled by the experience in a brief interview upon arrival at the site
and then he's on stage giving his all with a band obviously also enjoying the moment
the tune is a slow bluesy number with guitar and that voice harmonising superbly
sounds like the kind of thing l z would have churned out but sounding very contemporary
in a great moment of musical interchange we see american indian metal group blackfire on stage
sharing the stage with local djembe (drum) players and talking about their respect for the local culture
a visible and unmistakeable example of the uniting power of music
ali farke toure is featured delivering a stunning set of his west african blues
there's more footage of the festival site
and various spontaneous performances
interviews with musicians, organisers, journalists
i have a feeling this is going to be the experience of a lifetime
hi-ho hi-ho it's off to timbuktu i go
can't wait...