Aladdin theater has a good write up on the groups I saw last night: http://www.aladdin-theater.com/event/442875-tinariwen-portland
I first heard of them last month. (Though they are new favorites). The band was mentioned in one if the summaries of declassified intelligence briefs I was reading at the time on the current situation in Mali: One guy who was interviewed about a friend of his who was a minor leader in Al Qaeda (I don't know whether it was army intelligence, the CIA, or the BBC who did the interviewing) was described as "Student rebel leader and former manager of Tuareg rockers Tinariwen." I couldn't let a description like that just go, so I googled the name and was delighted to learn that they were on tour and playing Portland in just a month.
Glad I did. Their recorded music is good, but live they're amazing.
I first heard of them last month. (Though they are new favorites). The band was mentioned in one if the summaries of declassified intelligence briefs I was reading at the time on the current situation in Mali: One guy who was interviewed about a friend of his who was a minor leader in Al Qaeda (I don't know whether it was army intelligence, the CIA, or the BBC who did the interviewing) was described as "Student rebel leader and former manager of Tuareg rockers Tinariwen." I couldn't let a description like that just go, so I googled the name and was delighted to learn that they were on tour and playing Portland in just a month.
Glad I did. Their recorded music is good, but live they're amazing.