Pounding Sahara ritual slips you into a trance

While touring Asia, guitarist François R. Cambuzat met up with a musician who told him about the shamanistic rituals in China, and he then decided to see what his home country Tunisia had to offer by way of rituals. For months he immersed himself in the trance ceremonies and spiritual rituals of the Islamic saint Sidi Marzûq, performed by the Banga community in southern Tunisia. With his band Ifriqiyya Electrique, he will be bringing this authentic ritual to Leeuwarden in contemporary guise, and will soon have you dancing as if your body is possessed. Expect unending percussion sweeping over you, accompanied by compelling vocals and electronica. The ritual is accompanied by fascinating footage shot by the band. Ifriqiyya Electrique first performed outside North Africa just last year.