Ahead of the tour to support this year's album, Nigerien desert rocker has released 45 minutes of live film shot in the historic centre of Agadez, a city on the southern edge of the Sahara desert in Niger. It's wonderful, with the stirring music augmented by men on camels, dancers and swordsmen. The city centre dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries and was declared a World Heritage Site in 2013.
The site contains numerous earthen dwellings including a 27-metre-high minaret made entirely of mud brick – the highest such structure in the world – and Sultan's Palace, built in the first half of the 15th century. The footage was shot during a trip to the city last winter. "On our last day together in Agadez, we showed up to the Sultan’s palace, set up, and then waited around for a few hours," says producer and bass player Mikey Coltun.
"Was the show gonna happen? "Maybe a few hours later, 15-20 men riding camels showed up. I didn't count because I was so shocked Mdou was able to pull it off – calling this random guy we met in the desert with some camels, who then made some calls to get a bunch of Tuaregs (the youngest was probably 5 years old) to ride out from their village 3-5 hours away to be there for this special performance! Holy shit. "When we started playing, Tuaregs dressed in traditional Agadez clothing armed with hand drums started dancing and drumming.
There were even a couple friends of ours who showed up with some swords and performed a traditional dance to.