“Ça va?” asked Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni to the audience in French. He repeated himself, this time in English. “Are you happy?” The response was quick: a riotous roar of approval tore through the Majestic Theatre. Hands clapped a collage of tempos. Cheers in French, English and even Tinariwen’s own language of Tamasheq echoed off the walls. A smile on his face, Alhousseyni started playing a gentle fill on his acoustic guitar, one that signaled for the rest of the band to follow.
Touring in support of their latest album, Emmaar, Tinariwen stopped at the Majestic Tuesday night to share their brand of desert blues, developed after years of travel through the Saharan Desert. Tinariwen seemed more than happy to bring their music to Madison from halfway around the world, coaxing and whipping the crowd into an easy-going frenzy of groove-driven dancing and swaying.
The Melodic, a folk group from England, opened for Tinariwen with a smaller set. Vocalists Lydia Samuels and Huw Williams traded off verses against a lush background of drums, guitars and a charango, which chimed beautifully in the hands of player Rudi Schmidt. While the vocals seemed to stagnate at times, the full band was something to behold as each member played uplifting melodies and leads through each song.
Then, Tinariwen took the stage. Dressed in their traditional Tuareg robes, only a few members of the band picked up instruments from the collection their technicians had amassed. The others took to the mics, grinning expectantly at the crowd in front of them. Long-time member Alhousseyni began singing Tamasheq poetry into the mic, and soon the rest of the band followed. Behind them, bassist Eyadou Ag Leche and percussionist Mohammed Ag Tahada laid down a light groove guided by the singers’ harmonies.
After the first song came to a close, Alhousseyni and rhythm guitarist Elaga Ag Hamid grabbed for their guitars. Alhousseyni led the band through several songs, playing several light shuffles reminiscent of American blues scales through distortion-heavy amplifiers. The rest of the band followed his lead, singing and playing along as Alhousseyni broke out into mesmerizing solos and lightly picked fills.
Then, the band changed things up a bit. Yad Abderrahmane, a newcomer brought on to fill the spot left by band founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib (who remained behind in Mali to help his people through the recent violence and turmoil that had uprooted the rest of Tinariwen), picked up a guitar and took Alhousseyni’s place. Though he wasn’t as visibly active in the set, Abderrahmane showed that he could stand up with Tinariwen’s veterans as he picked his way through beautiful riffs that hummed alongside the singers.
Similar changeups occurred throughout the night. Hassan Ag Touhami, who had taken over the vocals for the previous songs, also took lead roles, including what sounded like a Tuareg rap and a dance solo that had the crowd following in suit. Sometimes there was only one guitar; other times the entirety of Tinariwen was armed with guitars.
When the show came to a close, Tinariwen lined up in front of the stage and said their goodbyes. One by one, Tinariwen’s members left the stage and the crowd roared behind them. Alhousseyni was the last one out, turning to look at the crowd with one last smile. He had shared his people’s music, and the crowd was happy.
