Scotland | Eunuch In A Harem

Disclaimer: As with all my music reviews, this is a blow-by-blow account taken from my own perspective and written mostly for myself as a memory aid. I’m not always an expert on the band in question. Massive thanks go out to the Setlistfm, Lastfm and the Youtubers whose content that I have used either indirectly or directly in this blog post.

I’m sorry The Arches, but it’s not me – it’s you.

I can no longer stand near the front of your set without the music going fuzzy and ringing in my ears after 45 minutes. You put doors on at 7pm and despite me showing up at 8pm; a full hour after billing. There was no support or even a DJ set to get into while I waited for Omar to show up at 9pm. While I waited, I paid your mad over-inflated prices for the last time.
When he did show, he stuck around until 10pm – an hour’s worth of live music – for the Arabian princely sum of £15 (plus booking fee).

Despite the quality acts you put on, I don’t think I can afford to have another potentially awesome gig spoiled by you. It’ll take someone truly special for me to be back at your venue. We’re done.

Let’s move on to the music.

If you haven’t heard Omar Souleyman’s music, take a Syrian wedding singer and then add some beats and you’ve got the instant party from last night.

Listening to him live is exactly what you would expect – 100% boogeylicious! Up, down and side-to-side, Omar and his keyboardist took a sparse Saturday night crowd who had spent the majority of their evening waiting for him to appear, and moved it into motion.

However, as mentioned above, he did step off the stage after 45 minutes only to come back on stage for 15 minutes more before saying his abrupt farewell to the crowd, who were standing around waiting for a reappearance. In the face of his 5 album back-catalogue and wealth of songs to choose from, they had every right to be hoping for more. Souleyman’s appearance was sweet, but short.

If you see his name on live music listings and you need somewhere new to go to shake your thing to, Souleyman will provide a proper wee treat. If he sticks around longer next next time, you might even be able to make a night of it as a substitute for the regular pubs and clubs in Glasgow.