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Special report
Génération musique in Lebanon
Rachid Taha rocks Beirut
Beyrouth
27/06/2005 -
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Concerts organised on this scale are rare in Beirut. "Sadly, countries in the Maghreb and the Middle East don't have the proper structures for us to tour properly there," laments Taha, the eternal rock'n'fusion radical. On stage as well as on his latest album Tékitoi, the singer continues to put his finger – or should that be smash his fist? – on topical issues and problem spots. Because that, he says, is his work, although he refutes the idea of being a "militant," claming the term is a "pleonasm." "Soldiers are militants," he proclaims, "not artists!"
Taha proved to be a vibrant presence at the Music Hall in Beirut, sitting, standing, kneeling and eventually lying flat out on stage. Laughing and joking between songs, but never forgetting his role of provocateur, Taha sang in both Arabic and French with enough verve and energy to wake the dead. And Taha was certainly intent on evoking the memory of the dead at his concert, paying tribute to the victims of religious fundamentalist in Algeria and dedicating a song to the murdered Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, who was killed in Beirut at the start of this month. Taha also paid his respects to those who are so often neglected and overlooked, such as Palestinian refugees (who form a major community in the region and in Lebanon as a whole). Meanwhile, the singer vented his spleen on the living, too, heaping scorn on corrupt and exploitative leaders, particularly those in Arab countries where he regularly turns up to perform in concert and denounce local dictatorships.
"I'm a believer in the alternative Koran," proclaims Taha with a grin – and also a firm believer, it seems, in the role that artists can play in Arab society, acting as much-needed "bursts of oxygen." At the start of the show the audience were rather shy and reserved but Taha soon had most of them up on their feet, swaying dancing – or even joining him up on stage for a song! At the end of the show, rather than bidding his audience "au revoir", Taha – a firm believer in the power of exchange – urged them to join him post-concert in the Music Hall bar. And these kind of exchanges look set to continue at the "Cabaret du Monde" shows. Next month sees the arrival of fusion outfit Gnawa Diffusion. In subsequent months Thierry Titi Robin, Arno, Dionysos and Yann Tiersen will also be heading out to Beirut.
The Music Hall concerts were organised thanks to the "Génération Musiques" programme launched by Afaa (the French Association for Artistic Action) in 2003. This programme was created with a view to encouraging the spread of world music and Francophone sounds around the Mediterranean, all the way from Maghreb to the Middle East. Over the past two years, a series of concerts, musical events and workshops have been organised in some twenty countries in the region, involving artists from a wide variety of musical backgrounds such as Sergent Garcia, Camille, Les Fabulous Troubadors and Art Mengo... Over 200 artists are involved in the Génération Musiques project. In Lebanon alone, in 2004, Génération Musiques staged six concerts including shows by Souad Massi, Lio and Jeanne Balibar. French electro star Etienne de Crécy also took his turntables to the Lebanese shore for an open-air Beach Party and Jean Guidoni headed out to Lebanon to work on the scenography of his French tour. Génération Musiques has also spawned a number of interesting spin-off projects. Such is the case with Françoiz Breut, who will be returning to Beirut in September, two years after her first visit, to work on a live "creation" with Lebanese musicians. Meanwhile Génération Musiques has also reached further afield with young French rock stars Louise Attaque kicking off a tour of South America this year thanks to the programme. And there are many more bursts of musical oxygen to come!
INTERVIEW WITH FRÉDÉRIC PINARD Audiovisual attaché at the French Cultural Mission in Lebanon
What does Génération Musiques in Lebanon actually entail?
In May 2004, we [the French Cultural Mission in Lebanon] got the support of the "Génération Musiques" programme to organise a series of concerts with the Music Hall. The idea behind the concerts was to get acts from the contemporary French music scene to perform here with Lebanese artists as support acts. We wanted to represent several different aspects of the French music scene featuring world music from Souad Massi, rock with AS Dragon, hip hop courtesy of Clotaire K and electro with Etienne de Crécy. Our idea was to really base ourselves in one place so the public would get used to coming here. Our collaboration with the Music Hall worked out really well so this year we decided to enter into a real co-production with the venue and include more world music in our line-up, while still working with the support of "Génération Musiques" of course. And that's how the idea of the "Cabaret du Monde" came about - "cabaret" because that's what the Music Hall looks like and "du monde" because we want to showcase world sounds produced in France. The project's not about presenting French music per se – the artists involved don't necessarily sing in French, in fact – but the thing they all have in common is that they're either produced in France or they've had part of their career there. We wanted to create a regular event on the first Sunday of each month and keep the idea of having Lebanese artists as support acts.
How have the concerts gone down with the public so far?
Really, really well. Souad Massi obviously went down really well, but audiences were also curious about groups that are lesser known out here such as AS Dragon and Clotaire K. The public were delighted to discover quality music that wouldn't necessarily find its way into the normal distribution circuit via records or the radio. The public I'm talking about isn't extensive right now but we hope there'll be a knock-on effect! Our concert line-up is aimed at 15-30 year-olds who live on a constant fix of Anglo-Saxon music on the radio. I'd say, as things stand, the Lebanese public's image of the French music scene is pretty out of date. People are generally out of touch with what's actually going on in France right now. And what we're trying to do is go some way towards changing that.
What do you think of the new music scene in Lebanon?
Well, it certainly exists! We managed to find local support acts for all the concerts we organised in May 2004, ranging from the rap posse Rayess Bek and the rock group Blend to world outfit Soap Kills. There's a lot going on right now! But sadly I have to say there just aren't the venues, the infrastructure or the promoters to support them. That's something I hope will come with time.
Pomme Larmoyer
Translation : Hugo Wilcken
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