Imarhan @ Norwich Arts Centre

Incredible desert vibes

by lizzoutline 7 September 2016

I love a bit of assouf, me - the music played by the Tuareg people of the Sahara really builds my sandcastle, and I've been lucky enough to see several live acts performing it in the past year. Imarhan, from out of Southern Algeria are a young group of five men who count the legendary Tinariwen as mentors (in fact lead singer Sadam is cousin to a member of Tinariwen). They've been playing together for eight years and their debut self titled album is out now. They even had a tasty looking 7" for sale on the merch stand which I was much tempted by.

It's always a tricky thing to fully enter the 'world music' arena when you're in Norwich - it all seems so far away from their world. But it helps when the weather is still baking hot at 10 at night, the lights are dusky and the vibes are warm and comfortable.

20:45 is an early start for a headline act, but it's a school night and so we're all quite pleased. The Arts Centre's about half full, a mixture of those who want to cut a rug at the front and those who like a bit of chin stroking at the back, just as it should be. Imarhan consist of a bass player, three electric guitarists and two drummers, one on the calabash drum and one on the djembe. Right from the start we're swept away with some beautiful harmonies from all members of the band, complex rhythms and some truly phat guitar riffs. It's evocative, peaceful and grounding, but also has a serious grit to it that keeps it interesting and varied. You can't get too comfortable. It certainly gets insistent and wild at times, with a couple of mad psych freak outs that prove their ability to play as an incredibly tight unit, with just a look passing between them to signify the end of an extended, mesmeric, droning passage. Incredible. The tones of the instruments and voices are perfectly balanced with each other, and the calabash player in particular manages to get the same range of notes and textures from thumping on one simple dome as from an entire drum kit. The rhythms change hypnotically within each song, and the rest of the band click in instantly - very impressive. Guitars and bass all have their turn in the spotlight with some serious riffage but there's no showboating - they simply slide to the forefront of the music and then back again seamlessly and subtley. They're a serious bunch of guys, but seem to warm up after about 20 minutes when people start dancing and the applause they're given in between songs shows how much we're loving it - by the end it's a total love fest, as it should be. A short evening but a good evening, with some incredible desert vibes transplanted to a church in Norwich.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YKmRKcYW90