On April 24, 2007, Deleyaman played live in Yerevan, Armenia. For most of us, that’s not exactly the closest show to catch. However, as someone who travels to Yerevan about twice a year for work, this was an amazing coincidence and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So, I filmed it to share with the Dark Dose audience.

April 24th is Genocide Remembrance Day, a national holiday where the country shuts for a day to remember family lost during the Armenian Genocide. It’s quite overwhelming; the city is filled with long, somber faces and events commemorating the tragedy. Even the weather matched the mood, snowing after weeks of 70+ (21C) degree weather.

One such event was hosted by the Naregatsi Art Institute at the American University of Armenia. The institute invited a rather eclectic set of musicians from around the world to perform including several choirs, a husband & wife pair who write theater and soundtrack music, world music singer/songwriter Arto Tuncboyaciyan and, of course, Deleyaman. An odd mix, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

Although built in the 1990’s, the university event hall had that distinctive Soviet feel resulting from its massive proportions, crumbling concrete and spaceship-inspired architecture. While waiting for the musicians, a projector showed ruins of the Armenian villages purged 90 years earlier. Mount Ararat, the nearby mountain which towers 13000ft over Yerevan, also made the slideshow.

Eventually, the screen lifted and the Speghani Choir commenced singing and set the mood. Somber, haunting music filled the hall and several singers even had tears in their eyes. Unfortunately, the musicians who followed were such a jarring contrast that it almost felt like a grade school music recital.

One such act was a uniformed children’s choir with girls as young as 4 or 5 years old. Adorable, but not quite what I expected. After the girls had given each other flowers and run off stage, the appropriate following act was none other than Deleyaman.

I suppose I always imagined seeing Deleyaman live would involve varied stage lighting and lots of instruments and thus was a little let down by the setting. The lights were white and bland, but the sound was great. Even after following such a mix of styles, the Deleyaman feel came straight through and that’s what I was there for. It was dark, atmospheric and even Armenian…ok, maybe Gothic-Armenian. That Armenian quality is mainly owed to the duduk, an eerie woodwind instrument native to the country, and the chanting vocals.

After the show, I managed to catch up with Aret who, as you can imagine, was rather surprised to see someone from Dark Dose in the audience and the institute’s program director. The director had invited Deleyaman, not so much to fit a given style, but rather more because he was a fan himself and wanted to bring Armenian-related musicians from around the world for the event.

So, without further ado, here’s the video. I recorded it with a small point and shoot camera and a mini-tripod, so the quality isn’t exactly amazing, but I think you’ll like it anyway. The track is “Deleyaman” from the album 00/1.