I've seen some odd and weirdly wonderful gigs in my time - but I can safely say that never in my life have I been to a concert featuring a heavy metal band from outer space, followed by a Pakistani-cum-London gobby folk singer and then as headliners a Siberian band with a vocalist who can sing with two voices at once - one a high-pitched windy whistle and one a deep rumbling bass that makes Barry White sound like wee Jimmy Crankie. Oh and this Siberian band do Joy Division covers as
well.
 | | Obiat - Laz has large hair |
If this sounds odd, then yes indeed it was, but invitingly and alluringly so. Obiat came on first to a nocturnally dramatic instrumental - setting the scene for the atmospheric other-worldly planet that comes accompanied by a slow-beat heavy-metal soundtrack. The echoing vocals of the great hulking frontman Laz shimmers out, sometimes roaring, other times wailing, many times through a loud hailer. Each ten-minute song has an air of a metallified Led Zeppelin, but the show would have been better if Laz didn't break the dramatic effect by bending down to sip from his flask every five minutes.
 | | Barbar Luck - he has large eyeballs |
Babar Luck, who was supposed to be on first, played second as he came late. An
unfortunate turn of events as his acoustic politicised folk, mixed with almost comedic pronounced lyrics and clown-like wide-eyeballing, didn't sit well after Obiat. His spartan guitar music with clear messages of peace, togetherness and 'west is best' is fairly enjoyable but can also be boring to those who aren't 'in the zone'. Sadly a numbskull heckler decides to boo and shout 'get off' with pointless verbal aggression - clearly not the reaction Babar Luck had in mind. Headliners Yat-Kha then appear on stage in a costume that reflects their mix of the modern and traditional. One appears in traditional Tuva Republic dress and plays a stringed instrument called a yat-kha (hence the name) that is a cross between a zither and a Japanese koto. The main man Albert Kuvezin, wears jeans and a Fender guitar.
 | | Yat-Kha musician playing the yat-kha |
The Tuvan musicians, who hail from the mountainous regions of Asia between Mongolia and the former Soviet Union, open with a traditional song that gives this ancient singing art-form the spotlight. At first you don't quite know what you're hearing - is this man a human didgeridoo? A growling lion in a dark cave? Then you become accustomed to the ground-rumbling deepness and discover that the high-wind whistle comes from his mouth as well. Then he sings Western covers that sound like they've been raked over with hot gravel, bringing out the broodiness of Led Zep's When The Levee Breaks, Captain Beefheart's Her Eyes and, most stunningly, Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart. If it's not Kuvezin's voice you're flabbergasted by, it's his lightning guitar solos, with fingers running over the fretboard like water. Mixing the modern with the traditional, we get a mini WOMAD-esque experience within the enclosure of 21 South Street arts centre - and it's a gig that quite literally grabs you by the throat. | 
