Amadou et Mariam

We had the good fortune to be in Sikasso when the famous Malian musicians, Amadou and Mariam were playing here. They have a website if you want to check them out. http://www.amadou-mariam.com/ They sang at Obama's Nobel Peace prize ceremony last year. They have been singing together for many years since they met in the 70s (?) at the Bamako centre for the blind.

It looked like all Sikasso's glitterati, decked out in all their finery, were there. Many of the expat community as well, less finely decked out. We pale in more ways than one alongside these incredibly elegant people. In reality, the concert was not that well attended, apparently, it was expensive for most people....about $6. The concert was on Mali time....you've heard of Mexican time? Same idea....it started 2 hours late. Despite that, no one got too upset..there were a few grumbles but good humour was restored as soon as they began, finally, to play.

There were some of the usual speeches, thanking important people who helped with the concert (from what I could gather from the mix of French and Bambara); some locals were singled out and rose to polite applause. A curious thing, people from the audience would go on stage, hand Amadou and Mariam money and then have their picture taken, all this while the concert was in progress. Lots of people got up to dance, I among them.