Cal Performances presents an Afropop Spectacular featuring Alsarah & the Nubatones and opener, Natu Camara
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94305 USA
8:00 PM, Friday, November 8, 2019

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[8:09 PM lights down, announcements; 8:10 PM band out]

1. [8:12 PM] Dimedi
2. [8:18 PM] Nnakhounde
3. [8:25 PM] Waa
   [8:29 PM; NC introduces next tune as a song for child brides]
4. [8:30 PM] Momi Hidda
   [8:37 PM; NC introduces next tune as a political song that got her in trouble at home in Guinea; takes off her guitar for the next few tunes]
5. [8:37 PM] Arabama Di
   [8:41 PM; NC says that women shouldn't give up their self-control over love]
6. [8:42 PM] Monstre
7. [8:49 PM] Gonlein
   [8:53 PM; NC gets philosophical; picks up the guitar again]
8. [8:53 PM] No Body Said
   [8:58 PM; NC takes off the guitar; introduces next tune as a Tanzanian one by Miriam Makeba]
9. [8:58 PM] Malaka
   [9:03 PM; NC tells her White Bird story]
10. [9:04 PM] Khony
11. [9:10 PM] Amassoukhou
    [9:18 PM; NC story about Guinean village life & then she rehearses the clapping song with the audience]
12. [9:20 PM] Ka Hirde
    [set ends 9:27 PM; all off after sing-along up front]

• Matthew Albeck: guitar, harmony vox;
• Natu Camara: guitar, vox;
• Oscar Amos Debe: drums, harmony vox;
• Rocco Dellaneve: keyboard, harmony vox;
• Foluso Mimy: percussion, djembe, congas, hand percussion;
• Djibril Toure: bass, harmony vox;
• Lindsey Wilson: backing vox.

[9:48 PM lights down; PA music faded out; band out]

1. [9:49 PM] Salam Nubia
2. [9:57 PM] [welcome from Alsarah]; (oud solo introduction) »
3. [10:01 PM] 3yan T3ban
4. [10:05 PM] Nuba Noutou
   [10:12 PM; Alsarah gets talkin' about revolution]
5. [10:14 PM] Manara
6. [10:20 PM] (unidentified tune #1; “Habibi” chorus; definitely not the same as t13!)
7. [10:24 PM] (unidentified tune #2; slow Arabic section > fast English “like the sun and moon and the edge of the night” > slow Arabic > fast English)
8. [10:31 PM] (oud solo introduction) »
9. [10:33 PM] (unidentified tune #3; slow tempo)
10. [10:38 PM] (unidentified tune #4; Motown groove, English lyrics “baby I have loved you for oh so long” … “bye-bye, baby, bye”)
11. [10:43 PM] Fulani
12. [10:46 PM] Soukura (It's Late)
    [10:57 PM; thanks to crew and crowd plus band introduction over unidentified groove]
13. [10:59 PM] Habibi Taal
    [show ends 11:03 PM; done! the crowd hoots and hollers for more to no avail]

Alsarah & the Nubatones

• Alsarah: vox;
• Rami El-Aasser: tabla, darbuka, drums, percussion;
• Mawuena Kodjovi: bass;
• Nahid: harmony vox;
• Brandon Terzic: oud.

Update, 8/27/2019: Due to difficulties in obtaining a US visa, Sidi Touré has cancelled his US tour, including his Berkeley appearance as part of the Afropop Spectacular. He will be replaced by Natu Camara.

Lou Fancher posted a promo article about Natu for the East Bay Express after interviewing her on the phone.

Tonight's show was great, but the venue was sadly undersold. Given that both groups ought to be reasonably well known by the greater bay area musical community, I'm going to guess that the lack of attendance is indicative of a general downturn in the economic well-being of the folks who would normally come out for this sort of thing: if the choice is between saving money to cover your rent or heading out for a night on the town, the latter choice is going to take a hit! Of course, that's just blowing smoke on my part, and there's plenty other reasons why turnout was low. A little sad (since that full house energy is good for pumping up the performances), but heck, what can you do once you're there?

Anyways, I though both sets were great. Totally different from one another. Both well worth seeing again!

I tried my best to ID the various tunes, but between my inability to transliterate Arabic lyrics and the absence of helpful introductions, I only figured out a few from Alsarah's set. Sometimes you gotta settle for doing your best, even when it's not good enough for the task at hand.

Waleed Shah posted a bunch of cool photos of Alsarah & Nahid in the Abu Dhabi desert (and a few concert photos too!) on his blog

Program Notes or program notes

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!