Caught Ciam last night in Jaffa, Israel. I was anxious to see how they’d perform live, and in the end, I was surprised at how amped the crowd was for them. It makes sense tho, as the band was huge in Israel in the early 90s, had their biggest hits here, and they sold so many tix they had to move the concert from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art to the twice-as-large Theatre Club (which is kind of a bummer – the museum would’ve been a great place to see a show). As the music tends to be on the more slow, churning, psychadelic tip, it helps that they spend so much effort on their visuals — they even consider their video director Olga Fernandez a member of the band.

Now I’m off to Ramallah, to the West Bank, to watch the Jordan National Team play Palestine in Palestine’s first ever home soccer/football game. The team’s been around for 10 years, but due to security fears they’ve never actually played at home, in Palestine. And this will be the first time. Really really bonkers — I can’t wait. Reportedly, something like 10,000 extra police have been called in to contol the crowds — this will surely be a banger. I hope nothing too crazy happens…look out for Dispatch Part 3 tomorrow…

Here’s a clip of Ciam’s visuals, one of the band’s strongest points…