Flyer
Tools You Can Trust
The Hacienda
22nd February 1983

What’s On for The Hac. and B.O.T.W. for Feb ’83.Mentioned before about the Burning Spear being surprisingly about the most packed gig I ever saw there. Was fortunate to get to see the mighty Horace Andy again the other night with a powerhouse backing band in tow. Like a fine wine his voice just gets better with age. If he sang the” Hokey Kokey “ I reckon the choirs of angels would pay attention. Still a humble man who uses his talents for the greater good without resorting to clichés or crowd pleasing gimmickry; just the man with his uplifting songs and effortless voice. He didn’t do “One Love” but sang “Big Wheel” over the top of the “Shank I Shek” riddim, probably best known through the Tristan Palma “Entertainment” version; the man’s a blessing to the world of music.
Also checked out a bloke called Omar Souleyman who I knew nothing about but went on a whim. He’s a Syrian musician, dresses in the whole arab garb, with sunglasses and dodgy tash thrown in but he was highly entertaining. It sounds like some sort of arab tekhouse, fluctuating between Crazy Frog, Klaus Wunderlich with a large dose of Yallah chant business thrown in for good measure. I know less about keyboards than the nothing I know about guitars but his keyboard player must be some kind of Syrian prodigy, making it all look so effortless but making a cacophony of keyboard and sindrum madness. That sounds terrible but somehow it just worked. I think what the band Tinarawen did for North African music a few years back he’s doing for arab music now.
I know he did something with Bjork which reminds me, I’m fairly sure The Sugarcubes played a gig at Pips circa '86 ish. Not sure if it’s true but for some reason it’s stuck in my head that way. If it’s true then it’s probably been written up on the site. I don’t recall Pips being used as a live venue though; maybe just my memory playing tricks on me.....