Local Music

 

Last week we attended a local music concert. It was a percussive experience to remember. It started with 20 people in a semi-circle from 3 different tribes. The announcer said we could easily tell them apart by their drums (not so much, they were all identical to me). They used plain old tree twigs about 18 inches long and their hands to beat the drums hanging at their sides. The drum leader completely shredded 4 drum twigs in the course of the concert. The impressive part was the absolute and complete synchronicity of the playing, it was not a random or ill prepared performance by novice beaters. 20 people beating as if they were 1, perfect..They had an impressive amplifier system hooked up so your guts vibrated, and I couldnt help get goosebumps the first few minutes despite the fact it was still almost 90 degrees at 10pm. They also did alternating sets with many of the local and traditional instruments such as the Kora which is a really tall string instrument carved from a gourd and sports 21 strings. During these instrumental sets they had some female singers, one of which had a voice that could have been used to torture information out of Bin Laden. There was some VERY energetic dancing that if I had attempted it I would have broken both my legs. One of the dancers was a wirey old dude that immediately made me think of Yoda. There were some oddities that took place; its customary to go up on stage and tip the performers (while they are performing) so throughout the concert people are going and handing the performers money. Some lingered there dancing with backs to the audience, others stayed up to chat as they continued performing. The experince was well worth it and we finally got to hear local music.