[ATTENDED: August 26, 2017] Haram
Haram (which mean “forbidden”) was the most buzzed about band at this show (even more so than Sheer Mag, if Sheer Mag is to believed). Dark Thoughts and Sheer Mag said they were the most important band in punk right now. I have to assume it’s because they sing in Arabic, but their music is pretty great too.
I had listened to their bandcamp page. They have a demo and a new EP out (a total of about 18 minutes of recorded music), so I knew what I was in for. But I wasn’t expecting the amount of intensity that the singer brought to the show (although subsequent pictures of other shows tells me I should have).
I don’t know what songs they played, exactly, although I assume all of them. The only song I can place is “Blood.”
Nader sings entirely in Arabic (including a number of really guttural vocalizations which could have been words or not). And in between songs he spoke to us in Arabic. Not an English word to be heard throughout their set.
It was pretty wild.
It made me imagine what it was like to be in another country when an American band would come and talk to them (like every Japanese live album). But it was also cool that Nader felt comfortable speaking entirely in Arabic, especially in a national climate where that could get you in trouble. Someone did shout out “speak English” (later in the night Tina from Sheer Mag called out that person and told him he wasn’t welcome at her shows). Tina also was in the crowd during their set which was pretty cool to see.
Right in front of me was bassist Martin O’Sullivan. He had long hair, bare feet and just shorts on. At one pint he climbed on the monitors and jumped off . He sounded great although had a hell of time getting started–there was some kind of loud buzzing coming from his amp and I think the show was delayed a bout five minutes because of it. But it didn’t hold them back at all.
Drummer James Stuart played loud and hard–his set up was quite striking and he had to put something in his bass drum to keep it from moving.
Off on the other side of the stage, guitarist Mike Gallant was steady and calm, not moving much but playing the few solos with a serious intensity.
But, as is to be expected, all eyes were on Nader.
He stalked around the stage, often a blur, large chain swinging from his belt. He got right into people’s faces singing and shouting. It’s amazing how perfectly Arabic works for punk music.
It was funny that there were a dozen of us right up against the stage and then a very deliberate gap of about three feet before the next group of people. He made eye contact as he shouted the words–but since I don’t know any Arabic I had no idea what he was singing–I’ve since seen some of the lyrics translated).
He sang right at me once although i didn’t get the angle right to really show it off.
But his screams and stalking didn’t seem intimidating, it seemed like he was trying to reach everybody–getting up close to them to tell his story–shouting for understanding.
He even lay down on the monitors as if exhausted, but still singing and then speaking to us.
After a half-dozen songs, he leapt off the stage and stood amid the crowd singing to them, engaging, bridging the language barrier. When he did so, O’Sullivan lay down on the monitors rumbling away, which was pretty cool too.
When the set was over, Nader more or less collapsed on the monitor and one of the fans in the front row embraced him–it was quite a moment.
They played about 25 intense minutes and then they were gone.
It was neat that during the Sheer Mag set, Nader stood next to me filming the band. On the way out I chatted with Nader for a minute and he was super friendly. I hope for great things for them.
For a ten minute clip about the band and their history, check out this page.
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