Live Review: Omar Souleyman, Andrew Tuttle

It’s a bit of a sombre affair tonight for Syria’s finest, Omar Souleyman, for whom a handful of people have gathered for a Wednesday night danceathon.

Early on in the night it’s a rather quiet affair with the underpublicised support, Andrew Tuttle, being the only act before the headliner, beginning after 9pm. It’s a shortish set by Tuttle, who periodically swaps between banjo and acoustic guitar for assorted pieces all of which are naturally slathered in infinite-sounding reverb/loops, like Banjo Patterson if he was a cyborg from the future. Tonight Tuttle is a little off, with transitions between pieces being quite abrupt in their conclusion, causing a lack of cohesion with the set as a whole. Coupled with the dead of silence of the audience, it’s quite inescapable. While Tuttle’s music is quite refined, it’s also a bit of an odd choice as warm-up to a dance party and would be better appreciated in a smaller environment.

Now for a man who’s released more albums than most people have had hot dinners, the one and only Omar Souleyman. Last in town a little over two years ago, his performance at the Powerhouse was a truly memorable night with a packed crowd and amazing sound equalling an environment that was perfect for a man who relies so heavily on the audience to drive his unique style of music. Seeing Souleyman perform, it’s essentially experiencing one song that only differs slightly with tempo changes and dynamic builds. The riffs are not too far apart from each other and the clapping (oh, the clapping indeed) all adds to essentially a repetitive formula, but what a formula it is and the venue is getting down appropriately with a bunch of white people dancing like they’re trying out for an up-tempo musical version of Aladdin.

Wenu Wenu is a mid-set highlight with the audience’s energy levels peaking with Souleyman’s. The rest remains high-calibre but not without disappointing quirks. For one, the “intellectual” heckling, “Show us what you got, Omar,” is tedious and an unfortunate reminder that we’re in Brisbane; the second is that despite being billed to play until 11.30pm, Souleyman cuts the set short to just shy of an hour, and considering the hefty $35 ticket price and the thunderous demand for an encore following the band’s departure, it does feel a little disappointing. Souleyman seemed off his game and it did show in his performance. Whatever the cause, it’s rather a letdown to the people who did gather tonight.

Ultimately, those present will look back on tonight’s performance fondly with memories of the moment when Omar went “Heeeeeeyyy” or that time where he confused everyone by changing the clap beat.