DakhaBrakha

DakhaBrakha – Sage Gateshead

Oct 03, 2015

How do you review a show where there are no song titles, the assembled musicians only speak a little English, there are none of the usual array of guitars etc and the songs and sounds are unlike any of the usual fare at the Sage?

How do you review a show where there are no song titles, the assembled musicians only speak a little English, there are none of the usual array of guitars etc and the songs and sounds are unlike any of the usual fare at the Sage?


Hmmm…. You must be at a DakhaBrakha show! Here we have four performers from the Ukraine. There’s three beautiful girls all dressed in what appear to be white wedding dresses, with huge black hats playing an assortment of drums, a cello that is also a bass, a spooky keyboard and three simply amazing choral voices that meld together in an almost holy way, there’s a strange Ukrainian pipe and a tall man with a drum and an accordion and a very strange voice.


 

The performance, to an almost full house, begins without ceremony and with atmospheric, but minimal, lighting as they walk out and thunder into their first piece with pounding drums, wide smiles and screaming voices. Over the next 90 minutes we are hit with an cacophony of sound unlike pretty much anything anyone here will have heard before. They announce, with fierce pride, that they are from ‘Free Ukraine’ and at one point offer us ‘Peace and Love and STUFF Putin” just so we know exactly where they are coming from.

The pieces presented tonight pulsate with power and strong passionate vocals that transport you to another more mystical world that seems dark and alien. We get one long piece where the band invoke the sounds of the forest with handclaps, bird noise, cooing and a strange wooshing instruments that leaves me mystified and enthralled. The strangeness here has people behind me laughing hysterically whilst on the other side of the room a wall of hippies are mysteriously dancing and waving their arms in the air and moaning.

 

At one point we get a doomy bass riff played on the cello and a spooky tune that sounds like Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’ complete with finger clicks and sultry vocals. The singer laughs at the end and simmers “Welcome to the Ukraine”. Later we get a long, long languid piece that, we are told, comes from the Carpathian mountains and is about a woman “who is trying to find a good husband – it’s a very long story” to much laughter. The song has a bizarre nagging chorus that has the band sharing smiles and grins.

It’s a strange and wonderful night and illustrates what a slot on Jools Hollands ‘Later’ can do for ticket sales. If you get a chance to get in the same room with DakhaBrakha anytime soon make sure you grab it with both hands. A tremendous show.

Photographer – Victoria Ling

 

nemm.org.uk