Tinariwen

"Ive been through the desert on a horse with no name, It felt good to be out of the rain" Well the horse was called Tinariwen, and though I never identified with that lyric until now, Sunday in the mud and rain Tinariwen moved us to another soundscape that of a dry arid place that probably had never seen rain.

Sounds impossible, but it's true, their music when summed up makes you feel like you've just caught a slight breeze of sultry air, as you bake in the sun between sand dunes. How they achieve this in a soggy field in Somerset is quite honestly baffling.

Maybe it's the imagery, the band wearing traditional desert robes (I notice the Taureg people wandering about the field after their performance - still wearing them) or perhaps the fact you can see thin shreds of blue in the sky at times, a first for many hours but most likely it's the blues tinged African music they play so masterfully.

The newer songs from their latest album, Aman Iman: Water Is Life (ahh the irony as I'm ankle deep in thick mud) really do stand out, but it's possibly because I'm familiar with the hypnotic tunes and Tamashek lyrics.

Their set seems over all too soon and we all realise something special has happened. We've been transported to their Sahara, a most excellent musical journey.

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