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Show Lineup:
Nemegata
Etran de L'Aïr
Genre(s): Desert Blues
Venue: Solar Culture Gallery
Date: 10/8/24
Description: This show was great! It was my first time checking out the Solar Culture Gallery, located downtown on Toole. When I got to the venue, it was pretty empty, even up until the when the first band started playing which surprised me and it made me feel weird standing in the front without a crowd around me. When the opener's set was over I turned around and it was a packed house which eased my mind.
The opener was Nemagata and I would describe them as a band that fuses traditional Colombian music with some newer elements. I really liked the juxtaposition of the more traditional percussion with the groovy synth basslines. They were really cool and they mentioned wanting to come back to Tucson soon so if they do, you should definitely check them out!
After Nemagata came the headliner, Etran de L'Aïr. It was really cool to see a band from so far away, hailing from Agadez Niger, in the middle of the Sahara Desert and the Mecca for Desert Blues. Immediately as they started playing, I just felt like moving. The guitar was so energizing and it was great just being able to get into the mood of the music. Throughout the set, the members kept moving around and trading instruments with each other and you could hear the difference in styles which was a very different experience to most bands I've seen. The high of the set was definitely the last song they played which had no vocals and it just kept going and going while I was hoping it would never end. During this final song, I felt entranced and all of the thoughts in my head just melted away and I was able to fully enjoy the music without a shred of the outside world grounding me and distracting me from the current moment. It was really a blast and a great first experience for seeing a world performance.
Reviewer Name: Noah Lieberman
Date of Review: 10/23/24
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