Before the tour As part of the dates in Europe and the United States, Mokhtar has released a video of a special performance in Agadez, Niger, which they filmed last year. The 47-minute video is titled Agadez Volumes: Live from the Sultan's PalaceThe video shows the band dancing to the music as men on camels watch them and people dance to the rhythms in the city center near the king's palace. The quartet captured the performance at a time when they were recording their latest album, Funeral for Justice.
In a statement accompanying the band’s YouTube video, guitarist Mikey Colton recalled how the band scouted locations when they arrived in Agadez in the winter of 2023. They thought of a well-known mosque and a famous bridge there, but neither materialized. Fortunately, singer and guitarist Mohamed Souleymane, also known as Mdou Moctar, had befriended people who could help them.
“On our way to a shoot somewhere in the bush, Madou suddenly stopped the car to talk to a man on two camels,” Colton said. “They exchanged numbers. Unbeknownst to me, Madou was planning to bring 50 camels to the palace of the king of Agadez, where the famous Agadez mosque is located. This was an idea we had discussed, but like some of our other concepts, I said, ‘Great,’ and assumed it would fail.”
“On our last day together in Agadez, we went to the Sultan’s palace, got ready, and then waited for a few hours,” Colton continued. “Was the show going to happen? Maybe a few hours later, 15 to 20 men showed up on camels. I didn’t count because I was so shocked at how Mado was able to do it—call a random guy we met in the desert with some camels, who then made some calls to get a group of Tuaregs (the youngest was probably 5 years old) to ride horses from their village three to five hours away to be there for this special show! Oh my God.”
Colton was shocked to see how seriously the Tuaregs took the show and wanted to make it special. “When we started playing, the Tuaregs, dressed in traditional Agadez clothes and holding hand drums, started dancing and drumming,” he said. “We also had two friends who showed up with swords and did a traditional dance together while we played. It was all completely unplanned.”
In June, Mukhtar performed at Warsaw in Brooklyn, which Rolling Stone This has been documented with photographs. These birds return to the United States in October, and dates in North America continue through early November.
