Well the headline says it. The Dranouter Festival in Belgium looks like a great place to be if you can get tickets. Tori Amos will be performing solo (yay) on the main stage. Another Higher Plain favourite Loreena McKennitt will also be present and with both well renowned for their excellent live shows I’m sure that’ll be the place to be on August the 1st!
Other artists included are Martha Wainwright and Jim White.
This weeks live vault comes from the live DVD released last year from world music queen Loreena Mckennitt entitled “Nights In the Alhambra”. The song is “Caravanserai” and the wonderful instruments coupled with Loreena’s magical timeless voice make for fantastic viewing. A great performance.
I was blessed to discover Loreena’s celtic/arabic/alternative world fusion of music after her huge hiatus in time for her most recent album “An Ancient Muse” and so the long awaited release of DVD/CD combo “Nights From The Alhambra” wasn’t quite as long for me as many others but that doesn’t detract from its stunning content.
Loreena performs in the historical stunning Spanish monument of Alhambra. Here she relays her magic of timeless melodies to perfection. Strong vocals, a full world band of all kinds of instruments and a fantastic venue all lend to the atmosphere and charm.
Many of Loreena’s best known songs are here from an uptempo “Mummers Dance”, a spirited “Marco Polo” and the massive climax of “Caravanserai” to the tear inducing elegence of “Penelopes Song” and eerie beauty of “Cymbeline”. There’s a new song called “Raglan Road” which fits the overall tone nicely too.
Loreena shows everyone exactly how its done on a DVD concert, although there’s no extras the whole audio comes on CD too which is excellent as its just as effective as a standalone album. Anyone seeking world music, celtic music or just something that can touch your musical soul – this is a very good place to start.
