Live Music from 9pm

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A special Friday night with Berber Diffusion, London’s first traditional Amazigh band, leading the scene with their unique blend of Amazigh pentatonic scales and Gnawa traditional music, with support from the ace Balothizer with a solo set of uniquely-rendered Cretan music.

The Amazigh people (aka Berbers) are pre-Arab North African nomadic clans, whose history runs deep under the Saharan sand, defying many attempts at oppression and eradication. Their musical traditions have continued into the present day through small groups of travelling musicians who still play at weddings and other ceremonies and celebrations, sharing the stories and poems of our ancestors. Founder of Berber Diffusion and lead singer, Abdellah Rais, is a multi-talented musician who studied under masters in Agadir and across Morocco. Playing the banjo, guembri, qraqab and drums, as well as a composer of house tracks, he twists together various strains of his musical heritage to create an innovative and unique sound. Leading the Berber music scene in London, he has joined musicians from all around the world to share the Amazigh rhythms, constantly discovering new crossovers with other folk traditions, from Irish to Bluegrass and beyond. The band have played at many big festivals and venues throughout the UK and Europe, keeping crowds on their feet and feeling the energy all night long!

In support is the fantastic Balothizer, tonight playing a solo set of beautifully chaotic, deeply embellished interpretations of the traditional sounds of Crete. Cretan music is wild and unpredictable, markedly different to the disciplined bouzouki music of the Greek mainland, with endless melodies, one after the other in stomping rhythms, sometimes monotonous and archaic, sometimes almost ecstatic, and unmistakeable Asian influence. Balothizer do it in style.