BEYOND SKIN REVISITED – Nitin Sawhney
OzAsia Festival – Festival Theatre Oct 17th 2019 7:30pm
4.5K XXXXx
A version of this concert, “Beyond Skin Revisited”, premiered at Royal Albert Hall only 3 weeks ago. I was eagerly looking forward to this shows Australian Premiere coming to the brilliant OzAsia Festival here in Adelaide.
After slurping down a few complimentary wines and chatting at the launch of OzAsia Festival 2019 we headed off to our seats in The Festival Theatre with several hundred others to become immersed in the ambience of Nitin Sawhney’s craft.
If you dont know much about Nitin Sawhney and in particular the Beyond Skin album its all been said. Accompanied by five immensely talented performers Nitin delivered an eclectic masterpiece for his very appreciative Adelaide audience (even if he was a bit confused about which city he was in! ..Perhaps due to jet lag from flying in from Europe).
Nitin’s music defies easy classification and this rendition of “Beyond Skin”, revisited on the 20th anniversary of the iconic albums release, has all his trademark sounds. His beautiful lyrical guitar, keyboard mastery and mesmerising vocals superbly accompanied by Anna Phoebe Mcgellicat on violin, the brilliant tabla playing and vocal range of Aref Durvesh, and lead vocals shared between the ethereal Nikki Wells and the funky, dynamic Eva Stone wove a tantalising tapestry of sonic beauty transporting the audience into Nitins bold musical vision.
The opening set included ‘Sunset’ and ‘Moonrise’ to warm us up and then it was onto the main course. For the next 70 odd minutes we were treated to a 2019 rendition of the original Beyond Skin album, in its entirety, including the pre-recorded voices of Nitins Father and Mother and other contributors from 1999
1999 was a year that heralded a new century carrying with it both fears and hopes for a saner world that would pull back from the brink of Nuclear madness and embrace a vision that went beyond our differences, beyond race, …..Beyond Skin.
The concepts and ideas expressed in the original album are sadly unchanged and speak eloquently to the state of a world two decades hence that may even have regressed. The evocative musical interplay and haunting melodic structures however have remained lucid and elegant. As the closing strains of the final track “Beyond Skin” were to bid us farewell the audience rose easily to deliver this performance a well deserved standing ovation.
Nitin Sawhney and this ensemble will be performing “Beyond Skin Revisited” elsewhere in Australia including Melbourne and Surfers Paradise.
Highly Recommended:
4.5K XXXXx
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