Photo Credit: Ashley Soo

Fox Theater – Oakland, CA
Live Review: 10/30/11

“Tinariwen” means deserts in the Tuareg dialect spoken in Northern Mali. The band which takes the name of “deserts” also calls the Sahara its home. Six members of the assouf guitar band played the Fox Oakland Theatre last night, opening for Cake’s Unlimited Sunshine tour. They played eight songs of African blues music full of rhythmic force and traditional melodies. While the Mississippi Delta may run through the vein of American blues music, Tinariwen invokes the desert-dwelling and nomadic soul of the Tuareg people. Thousands of miles from its origin, the music felt universal in its basic intent: expressing the feelings which anchor you to a place and people.

The Oakland five-piece California Honeydrops preceded Tinariwen with a short set of their New Orleans jazz- and classic R&B-inspired music. Frontman Lech Wierzynski was all smiles on stage as he described the band’s beginnings as street performers at the Ashby BART station. Harking back to their early days, the band played their song “Pumpkin Pie” with drummer Ben Malament accompanying the song on washboard. He played a rousing percussive solo with his intricate thimble taps and hand drumming.

When Tinariwen first walked on stage, lead guitarist and vocalist Ibrahim Ag Alhabib was conspicuously absent. He is the only member of the band who does not wear a traditional head garment while performing and is recognizable through his long curly hair. Two guitarists, a bassist, a percussionist and a dancer (a kind of “hype man”) took the stage and performed four songs before the band leader appeared with his metal-plated guitar. All members of Tinariwen performed dressed in full traditional garb which usually protects them from the desert climate: long, flowing garments covering the body from head to toe.

The story of Tinariwen is remarkable for the circumstances in which the band members organized: mercenary wars, refugee camps and overall militarization of Tuareg life. Yet the music is not militaristic by any measure. At the Fox Theater, the audience joined in with handclaps and shouts while members of the band spoke but a few words in English and French: “Thanks so much,” “Merci beaucoup,” and “Ça va?”. At the end, the six members stood side by side and gave one final bow before leaving the stage.

The set was classic Tinariwen, lacking the collaborative asides and flourishes of Wilco or TV on the Radio from their latest record, Tassili. While the political upheavals of the band’s native region may bring promises of greater peace, some things, like the integrity and intensity of their musical traditions, remain best unchanged.

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http://www.tinariwen.com/

http://www.cahoneydrops.com/