28 June 2011 (gig)
30 June 2011
Aside from the fact that their charismatic chanter Fatma Walette Cheikhe was held up on the wrong side of the channel for visa reasons we were treated to Tamikrest shorn of all the baggage of Dirtmusic that tempered their debut gig last year – the gig was fine but the real brilliance of Tamikrest was veiled behind the western musicians.
We had an hour and a half of some of the simplest yet most intricate music imaginable and a small but increasingly enthusiastic crowd was dancing and giving some of the widest smiles I’ve seen in a London gig. To indicate just how much the crowd was ‘into’ the music the normal chattering and blather, often louder than the band, was silent; plenty of applause and even some whoops but no chat – amazing!
The band were a stripped down crew (see below) but the way that the music developed, often from a simple rhythmic pattern on the Calabash, into a full on hypnotic and complex piece based around the lead chant of Ousmane Ag Mossa and the interplay of the guitars between him and Mossa Ag Borreiba took us all deep into the atmosphere of the desert. Some of the numbers early in the set were a little cold but as the band got used to the acoustic and the crowd warmed to the band it all moved into the most intense groove you could have wished for.
The numbers from ‘Toumastin’ gelled brilliantly with the earlier numbers from ‘Adagh’ and there was no doubt at all that the band were at the top of their game.
They will be back later in the year and hopefully filled out with all the members but this was a special night.
Set List:
1. Adjan Adaki
2. Amidinine
3. Imanin Mahedjahk
4. Fassous Trhanet
5. Tinza
6. Tidite Tille
7. Alkhorya
8. Aratan N Adagh
9. Nak Amadjar
10. Aicha
11. Outamashaq
12. Aratan N Tinariwen
13. Tamiditin
Encore
14. Adagh
15. Tahoult
The line-up for was:
Ousmane Ag Mossa - lead guitar, vocals
Mossa Ag Borreiba - rhythm guitar, vocals
Cheikh Ag Tiglia - bass, vocals
Aghaly Ag Mohamedine - djembe, vocals
Ibrahim Ag Ahmed Salim - calabash, drums
Picture: Gunild Carle
