Youssou N'Dour

The Senegalese Star Breaks The Ice In Reykjavik

Reykjavik 

16/06/2000 - 

Rekyjavik, the most distant of the nine European towns chosen as cultural capitals of 2000, has organised a series of special festivals revolving around the theme of "Nature and Culture". Over coming weeks the Icelandic capital will host some 250 events, but one of the highlights of the year's festivities came last weekend when the city staged the first edition of the "Music Festival of Reykjavík".

Ahost of international stars flew out to Reykjavik for the city's first major music festival including headlining acts such as Laurent Garnier, Asian Dub Foundation, Gus Gus, Emiliana Torrini and Ray Davies from The Kinks. Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour looked a little out of place at first amidst a line-up dominated by rock, omnipresent electronica and a bevy of young up-and-coming Icelandic talents (experimenting with everything from alternative rock to techno). But Youssou's sultry African vocals soon melted the ice in Reykjavik.

To say the Senegalese star received a warm welcome from the audience at Reykjavik is an understatement. Youssou brought the house down in the Icelandic capital, his set going down as one of the highlights of the city's first Music Festival. This was no minor achievement considering that prior to his appearance in Reykjavik only a very small percentage of Iceland's 270,000 souls knew who Youssou N'Dour was - and those who had heard of the African star only knew him because of his double act with Neneh Cherry on the hit Seven Seconds. True, a handful of well-informed music fans had heard of Youssou's collaborations with Sting, Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon, but they could practically be counted on one hand! This did not stop the local press from carrying rave reviews of Youssou, however, Icelandic journalists hailing the singer as Senegal's leading music star and comparing his lyrics to the work of the late great Bob Marley.

And yet the atmosphere before Youssou's concert began was nothing out of the ordinary. The audience largely made up of Icelandic teenagers and local families, sat around chatting quietly, vaguely curious as to what Youssou would come up with. At 9.50pm the lights went up and Youssou's eight musicians and solo-backing singer trooped on stage, followed by the singer himself dressed in a long white robe. As soon as Youssou broke into the opening notes of Seven Seconds however, the audience sprang to their feet, rushing towards the front of the stage in a movement of collective euphoria.

Prior to Youssou's arrival on stage, the audience had appeared to be a rather reserved and frosty bunch - their national character forged, I presumed, by years of living in such chilly climes. But Youssou's powerful African rhythms surged through the air with the force of a geyser, bubbling up through the crowd and turning the audience into one singing, dancing mass. In spite of the differences between African and Icelandic culture, Youssou's songs seemed to cross national boundaries, striking a chord with the crowd in Reykjavik. Given that Iceland won independence from Denmark little more than fifty years ago, the audience obviously warmed to lyrics about minorities standing up to oppression and fighting for their cultural identity!
In any case, Youssou had little trouble getting his message across and the crowd was clearly delighted, singing along with the chorus as the singer patiently dictated the lyrics of his songs in Wolof. Swept up in the general euphoria members of the audience broke into improvised dances, copying the steps of Youssou and his musicians on stage as they laughed and joked along with fans. Unfortunately, the concert came to an end all too soon, Youssou and his band rounding things off after just I hour, fifteen minutes. At the end of the concert Youssou's musicians slipped off stage one by one, leaving the maestro to perform a moving a capella tribute to Africa beneath the rays of the setting sun.

Josef Marzolla in Reykjavík