Rachid Taha is nothing else if not a performer. On Thursday night at the Kimmel Center he turned the usually refined Perelman Theater into a slamming dance party. Taha's style of music, called rai, is a form of traditional Algerian folk music, but his sound was far from my concept of folk. His music - and image - has much more in common with punk.
Taha's persona, more so even than his excellent music, dominated the stage Thursday. In his bright red suit and white sneakers, with the occasional trademark fedora and sunglasses, he reminded me of an era when stage presence and personality were prerequisites for performers. Perhaps I've seen too many stiff-necked indie bands, but I think before you even consider taking your music public you need to develope some pizazz. Either that or join the pit orchestra, cause then we don't have to look at you.
Now, that said, Taha was such a ham that at times I almost felt a little uncomfortable. I was right in front by the stage, but when my roommate suggested we try to grab his hand I pulled back. He was so overtly sexual that I didn't want to get too close. At one point during the night he invited a bunch of people on stage and tried to make out with a (fortunately reluctant) 14-year-old girl, so my fears were well founded. And although I found his banter between sets a little difficult to understand (he spoke in a mixture of French, Arabic, and English), I definitely understood when he yelled, "I want some sex tonight!" Let's just say I inched back a little further from the stage.
Despite these seemingly un-Kimmel Center moments, however, Taha's performance stood alone. He danced around stage, gyrating those eager hips and caressing the microphone, his energy lighting up the audience. He drew a very mixed crowd - old, young, American, French, Middle Eastern - but everybody danced. I was sandwiched between a very rythmic mother with her two young girls, and a couple of headbanging college guys. Behind me was an elderly couple partners-dancing. Clearly Taha is a unifier. I have to say, my favorite number was definitely his Clash cover, "Rock el Casbah" (very difficult to translate). Taha has a new "Best of" cd out, and you can check out his music at rachidtaha.artistes.universalmusic.fr.
Also, a heads-up that this Tuesday at 9 p.m. the Lawn Chair Drive-In (lawnchairdrivein.com) is showing Gold Diggers of 1933, a depression-era over the top musical. So if last week's depressing modernist French piece wasn't your cup of tea, this is a real turn-around.
