Tinariwen, stars of last year's Festival in the Desert in Mali, opened proceedings. Six of them appeared in blue flowing robes and traditional headgear. Their "tishoumaren" music, a hybrid of traditional folk sounds and electric instrumentation, sounded to the untrained ear like the jammed psychedelic bits from 1960s classics by the Doors or the Rolling Stones, extended into long passages of hypnotic throbbing. They were rather shy and their English extended only to: "You are welcome to the desert," but the mantric nature of such pieces as Arawan and Chet Boghassa from 2004's Amassakoul album spoke for them.

-Thomas H. Green