Live Review: Mdou Moctar

The seats were stripped-back and the lights were burning blue in preparation for a high-intensity show with origins in the arid climates of the Azawagh Desert. While the lands are barren in terms of vegetation, the spirit and tenacity of the Tuareg people of Niger have produced a virtuosic music tradition stretching back centuries.

Mdou Moctar's music is in the same vein as that of his predecessors. Just like fellow Niger Berber, Omara "Bombino" Moctar, Moctar took to the Spiegeltent stage in the garb of his people and with an incredible array of African rhythms and hammer-heavy riffs. With capo firmly fastened to the third fret of his guitar, Moctar created highly engaging, trance-inducing songs that wandered and meandered throughout the darkened tent.

The rhythm guitar added background colour while Moctar peppered the atmosphere with stories told in his native tongue. While the lyrics were unclear to probably the entire audience, the music spoke of unity and universality. The percussion laid down by the energetic drummer proved accumulative, immersing the audience in the rhythm by one of the songs built from relatively simple-yet-intricate lines to all-out festive frenzies.

It is clear to see the similarities between African-inspired Western musical traditions of blues, reggae and roots, yet this music is special — a testament to the enduring ingenuity and rigour of the West African people who shift like sand through some of the harshest terrain on this planet.

There is much to be said for the state these lucky Sydneysiders were welcomed into. Desert images crept across the mind, long journeys and foreign wonders came alive. Moctar's performance was transformative, taking its audience far from Hyde Park and all the chaos of this life. The revellers were, for a generous 75 minutes, able to lose themselves irrevocably, timelessly in the dance.