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Ron.M -> RE: Tonight I met Amir Haddad!!! (Apr. 16 2004 17:07:06)
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Actually I wasn't even sure if Amir Haddad still played with the band, but I'd read about Radio Tarifa on the Net so I thought I'd go along and see what they were like anyway.
I got to the gig a bit early, so I had to hang around for about 10 minutes or so waiting for the doors to open. As I stood outside on my own sheltering from the light Aberdeen drizzle, I saw this hippy looking couple, the guy with shoulder length hair, walk slowly up the road. They tried the door, but it was locked, so they rang the doorbell and flapped the letterbox. I was about to tell them that the doors didn't open until 7.30 and they’d have to get in line like everybody else, when somebody opened the door and they went inside.
I found out later that guy actually was Amir Haddad!
Kinda surreal really, considering I’d scoured the Net a couple of months ago to try find out more about him.
The Lemon Tree is a nice venue, since they tend to hold most of their music shows in the Cafe/Bar rather than the theatre, so it’s less formal and you can enjoy a beer while listening to the music.
It’s a Scottish Art’s Council/Aberdeen City Council supported thing started in 1992 for showcasing non mainstream performing arts and has hosted a lot of major talent in that time.
Prior to that we had to make do with a spare room in the Art Gallery.
There aren’t too many tables, so it’s mainly a stand up, pint in hand affair.
The P.A system is excellent too, and they have a full size audio/lighting desk with a sound guy.
As the place filled up, I caught the eye of the venue Manager and asked her if there was any chance of having a word with Amir Haddad and she said she’d see what she could do.
The show started with "guitar virtuosos" Rodrigo and Gabriela, a Mexican couple who play cutaway, amplified Spanish guitars, pick style. Lot’s of percussive effects on the guitars and repetitive motifs with jazzy riffs overlaid. Not my cup of tea really.
Mike would have liked it though. [;)]
Halfway through their third number, the Manager tapped me on the shoulder and said she’d show me up to the Band room.
I knocked on the door and went in, and was greeted by Amir himself. I asked him if he was the guitarist who played on the “Understanding Flamenco” CD and he said he was, which was cool, because if he had said No then I would have felt a total idiot being there since it wasn’t like I was a big fan of the band or anything!
All the Radio Tarifa guys were sitting around drinking beer or pepsi and laughing and joking and seemed a jolly bunch.
Amir got me a beer and I sat at the table and had a chat with him.
He was actually born in Germany and moved to Spain at an early age. He started Flamenco guitar at 10 (he’s 29 now) and as well as playing oud with Tarifa, he plays Flamenco in various Tablaos in Spain. The solo guitar playing you hear fading in and out on the Understanding Flamenco CD is his own material he’s been working on for 2 years in the hope of releasing a solo album sometime.
The guitar he uses is a Bellido. We chatted for a bit more then the band got their call to go on.
As I walked back I met Gabriela coming back up and had a few words with her. She was really a delightful person, very shy and modest and I felt a real rat for not applauding more enthusiastically.
Radio Tarifa got on stage and launched into a powerful North African number that blew me away.
The sound was brilliant, especially the two wind instrument players, one playing a weird hook shaped oboe-like thing that looked like it came out of the Biblical times.
Amir Haddad plays the Electric Oud like a man possessed, and if you ain’t heard the Oud played at 200Watts through Flangers, and FX Pedals you ain’t heard nothin’ LOL!
Benjamin Escoriza has a great voice and magic stage presence, a real character, with a devil may care style and humour reminiscent of the late Ian Dury.
At one point Jorge Gomez picks up Electric Guitar and looking a bit like Brian May’s younger brother jams wildly with Amir Haddad, both of them dancing around like Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood on a high.
Some of the rhythms seem highly complex.
This band is a lot of fun, probably better in a club situation than a concert hall, as by the end of the night they had everybody bopping around and having a great time.
The only thing I regret is not knowing what I know now, since it seems they were hanging around the Hotel clicking their heels for the afternoon, so I might have been able to arrange some Flamenco lessons and found out how to do that Buleria intro properly. Damn!
At the end when the individual band members were presented to the audience, it was interesting to hear the different nationalities, Spanish, French, German and English.
Yes! The Bass player David Purdye hails from Brighton!
Don’t miss them!
cheers
Ron
PS. Here's a pic. The guy who looks like the Devil is Amir, and the ugly sod is me. [:D]
www.btinternet.com/~flamenco/amir.jpg
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