mar 20, 1999

Sitar Funk

at Shepherds Bush Empire,Sat 20th March 1999

taken from: Dream Creation Magazine, issue 24 june/july 1999

text: Michelle F & Sally Doolally

It was a wet Saturday night and the final date of Sitar Funks UK Club Tour at The Shepherds Bush Empire. Billed as 'The Big Mash Up' with a prestigious line-up including State of Bengal, Earthtribe, BI-Polar and Transglobal Underground, we knew we were in for a treat not to be missed. The classical Indian trio, a mash up of Tabla, Violin and Sitar created a fittingly mystical warm up to the night, evoking a definite nostalgia of Varanasi and The Ganja. Transglobal Underground, featuring The Dhol Foundation got the crowd going with their powerful drumming, tribal beats and ethnic toasting, followed by DJ Future Global Mantra (aka Chet) playing a chilled set keeping the crowd nicely grooving Earthtribe's familiar blend of dance beats and hauntingly beautiful Shamanic vocals, courtesy of Shahin (Smackmybitchup) wowed the audience, followed closely by a visual feast of synchronised dance, performed by Dtek and Union Dance whose mix of breakdance, martial arts, ballet and jazz to some of the wicked tunes straight off the Sitar Funk album was nothing short of inspired. Unfortunatley, State of Bengal had a few technical hiccups resulting in one of their girlies leaving the stage in a strop, which was very bizarre behaviour to see! Finally, respect to Diamond Finger whose sheer energy and pace brought the already sweaty crowd to boiling point. (hope you enjoyed the hols Elton!)

All in all a truly enjoyable and important night proving just how well different culture can merge to make wonderful music. A memorable quote of the night came from Johnny Kalsi of the Dhol Foundation, " some might call it exotic; We call it culture, cultere of the Sitar!" So if you missed out, jet yourselves some culture and check out the Sitar Funk album.