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Performing in a country with limits on free speech posed some challenges -
in particular when performing Simple Mind, which uses the sound of
tearing newspaper.
Ripping up any of the state-owned newspapers wouldn't
have gone down terribly well with the authorities, so they took copies
of the Daily Mail over with them instead. As Herbert noted: "The Mail was
more useful to me as a musical instrument than a newspaper. It can help
make the world a better place by being torn up."
It certainly went down well with the sell-out audience at the Barbican, who
booed and hissed when the newspaper's name was mentioned - and the
ensuing destruction brought to mind a scene from Dead Poets'
Society, where Robin Williams enthusiastically shouts "I don't hear
enough RIP!" to his students.
A paper fight ensued between various
sections of the band, and the trumpet section seemed to bear the brunt
of the attacks. Eska, the singer with whom Herbert has collaborated
extensively, also got in on the act and ended up with shredded newspaper
pom-poms. Her dress was particularly striking, and took shoulder pads
and accentuated hips to new heights.
The three collaborations which opened the evening were slightly less
daring in their choice of attire, but showcased a broad spectrum of
musical styles. The links between the blues and West African music were
highlighted when Justin Adams and riti player Juldeh Camara were joined on stage by
ngoni maestro Bassekou Kouyate, his Malian compatriot Amy Sacko, Egyptian Mohamed Medhat's violin and a drummer called Martyn from glamorous... Ellesmere Port.
There was a hint of Sinead O'Connor in the duet
of Palestinian vocalist Kamilya Jubran and Scots singer-songwriter Karine Polwart, who sang a poem in Arabic and a
response in Gaelic. Guillemots vs Penguins rounded things
off, and performed the Penguin Café Orchestra song Telephone And
Rubber Band, with some added guitar oomph from the wonderfully named
Fyfe Dangerfield, a man in need of a decent haircut.
When Herbert took to the stage, he was wearing his usual
morning tails and sported an oversized bow-tie, but was bereft of a top
hat. It gave him a slightly Lurch-like appearence, and coupled with his
impressively uncoordinated dancing, made for quite a sight. As well as
touring to promote the 2008 album There's Me And There's You, he's bossed Accidental Records and produced
albums for The Invisible and Micachu this year.
Bold political statements were never far away during the course of
the evening, and during Battery we saw Herbert and the 75-strong
Goldsmiths Vocal Ensemble cover their heads with hoods, in reference to
Bush's War On Terror and the infringements on civil liberties it heralded.
References to Iraq could be found during One Life,
where he contrasted the NHS having spent £250,000 keeping his son alive
- who was born two months premature - with the amount spent and
resulting number of deaths since the removal of Saddam Hussein.
There was a return to levity with a great encore in the form of The
Audience, from 2001's Bodily Functions. Herbert got the crowd to sing
the note D and sampled it, and the choir proceeded to get into the
rhythm and dance away merrily, which was fun to watch.
It was an
effective ending which saw the choir dance out of the auditorium through
the crowd, leaving the charismatic Zimbabwe-born diva Eska to sing the last lines, and then leave the stage
carefully in her oversized heels. This evening was another great
performance by Herbert's ensemble, and a testament to the power of
collaboration, something the British Council has done so much to promote.
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