Tinariwen – Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago, IL)

Tinariwen played to a sold out show within the quaint and intimate walls of Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music.  They formed in 1979, and then rose to prominence in the 1980s as the leaders of a new political and social conscience in the southern Sahara, and the icons of a generation of young Touareg living in exile in Algeria and Libya. In the early 2000s they started to gain a following outside Africa, first in the world music community, and then in the rock scene, thanks to frequent tours and appearances at major festival in Europe/ USA and backing from such artists as Robert Plant and Thom Yorke. After releasing their second CD album ‘Amassakoul’ in 2004 they had become one of the most successful African groups in the world, and even won several prestigious awards.  They sing about the suffering and exile of their people of the southern Sahara, and about their beauty of the desert home.  I was lucky enough to catch them performing in a small, sold out venue on  a Saturday night.  Please take some time to check out the photos.