Sometimes life brings some serious synchronicity. This issue of Music Street Journal found some for me in an unlikely place. Watching this video I was reminded of something Vangelis (the musician and composer responsible for so many movie soundtracks and much more) said in a documentary I also reviewed in this issue. He was talking about how music is a universal language that human beings seem to respond to, outside of and independent from spoken language. Well, to me, so much of this documentary is about that concept. 

The premise here is a rock band from the US touring the Middle East. Now, that might be interesting enough, but it gets more poignant. These guys were supposed to tour a year earlier, but amidst the Arab Spring the tour was cancelled. The rescheduled tour happened during the same time period that protests were going on against America over a video that had been released.

I really had never heard of this band before. That had zero effect on my enjoyment of this film. This is a fascinating look at what is involved in a tour like this. I’m not talking the usual logistics, but rather the emotions, the concerns and the quest for communication and understanding. Ultimately, the music won out and allowed these guys to really connect with audiences over a large cultural divide. That makes this thing well worth seeing, no matter how you feel about this particular band. Surely their fans will have an even bigger stake in this thing.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.