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Orphaned Land @ The Underworld, London |
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Orphaned Land
@
The Underworld, London
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Tonight, Camden’s The Underworld isn’t packed to the rafters, but the sizeable crowd that has gathered are twittering excitedly and there is a palpable thrum from the expectation hanging heavily in the air. Israel’s Orphaned Land are playing and the fans that have come to see them are clearly overjoyed at the prospect.
Orphaned Land grace the stage one by one by, each member greeted by rapturous applause, especially vocalist, Kobi Fahri. They immediately break in to ‘Barakah’ and The Underworld fills with their unmistakable middle-eastern sound. The crowd lap it up, jumping, moshing, clapping and singing. Orphaned Land play a thorough mix of old and new material, making their show a real gig and not a sales pitch for their latest album, ‘The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR’. Old favourites like ‘Ocean Land’ are received with roars of approval and the crowd, putty in the band’s hands, leap around like they’re in a trance. Female vocalist Shlomit Levi is, sadly, absent, her vocals, along with various other instruments, played in the backing track. This is a shame, because her clear, powerful voice would be amazing to experience live, especially on tracks like ‘Sapari’, which sounded immense despite her absence, in no small way due to Kobi Fahri’s flawless, beguiling voice.
For such a humble band, the power of Orphaned Land’s delivery makes The Underworld’s walls swell and holds the audience permanently in their thrall, for they jump around all night. Kobi is a true entertainer, commenting on the English football team, and talking about their homeland and the nature of their music. As he puts it, “Living in the middle east is hardcore.” Their passion and their messages are so readily apparent when they play and their energy flows like a circuit through the crowd. It is a pity that the only way to hear all the instruments is on a backing track as it would be truly spectacular live, but, really, there’s no other way to do it. It is a testament to Orphaned Land’s prowess as a live act that the need for a backing track took nothing away from their set, which saw everyone leaving The Underworld feeling like they’d just seen the most amazing thing ever.
Reviewed by Annette Simmonds
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Live Reviews 
