CLANDESTINO FESTIVAL

It begins with a Dj-set encompassing a spectrum of 60 – and 70-century retro. Everything from hybrid-pop, rock, Public beat, Yeh-Yeh, go-go, freak beat, psychedelic surf and different styles of music from North Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia will boom from the speakers. Behind the turntables stand Mark Gergis and Alan Bishop. Next, two legendary groups take the stage. One group, called Omar Souleyman, is from Syria. The other is called Group Doueh and has traveled to Gothenburg from the Western Sahara. They perform a concert each within the framework of the European tour of American record label Sublime Frequencies.
What they have in common is playing music that is rarely heard at festivals filtered by the academic committees of the world. It is music that belongs to street life. It is unpolished, not really complicated, but extremely rich in dimensions that seep through already at a first listening.
Over the last 15 years, Omar Souleyman and his musicians have stapled an enormous stack of cassette albums found in music shops in the Syrian cities. Souleyman, coming from the city of Ras Al Ain in the northeast of the country, began his musical career in 1994 with a small group of musicians who have since formed his entourage. Tireless in their rouring, they have appeared countless times in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Lebanon. A myriad of regional traditions emerge in their music – sounds from Syria, Iraq, Turkey and from the substantial Kurdish population. The atmosphere of the repertoire shifts from raw and heated to contemplative and suspended. It short, expect the ultimate festival music. Omar Souleymans superb and varied vocal style spans Syrian dabke (regional folklore dance music) and many other styles. The furious Arabic keyboard solos of Rizan Sa’id are mixed with Ali Shakers playing of the bazouk and percussion. Ataba is a traditional form of folk poetry that together with Omars mawal freestyle singing is performed by Zuhir Maksi. It is in a class of its own.