Les Filles de Illighadad cancel their concert and are replaced by a harmonica trio

The concert with Les Filles de Illighadad, which was supposed to be part of the Oslo World edition of Tuva's Blood Club at Riksscenen on Saturday 5 November, has been cancelled. Everyone who has bought tickets will have the amount returned.

The band's management has made a statement which you can read at the end of the press release. According to them, the reason is the arranged marriage Fatou Seidi, the band's front person and initiator, recently entered into. Her husband has objected to the band's touring activities. Les Filles de Illighadad has now put a pause on all activities until 2024.

- This is a very tragic situation, says Alexandra Archetti Stølen, festival manager at Oslo World.

- Fatou started this band, and she has always had ambitions to become one of the biggest in Tuareg music, which is still a very male-dominated field. She was on her way there too - Les Filles de Illighadad is a terrific band that has traveled a lot all over the world since 2014. If we take what the management says as a basis, this is a dream that is bursting due to traditions and a view of women that should not have the right of life in 2022. It affects Fatou, and all the others in the band who try to make a living from music. It is also a reminder that we work within an area where there are still many challenges that feel distant in western music life, where you can travel across most borders and marry whoever you want. It is a real shame that role models in this music are affected by this, she says.

A trio consisting of Anders Røine, Thov Wetterhus and Kenneth Lien, Norway's three leading harmonica players, has been brought in at short notice as a replacement. DJ Sissyfus and Nasim Mashak will DJ after the concert.

Management's statement:

Les Filles de Illighadad this past weekend have informed the management and now today me that they are cancelling all shows and tours for 2022 and 2023 and maybe not even continuing as a band but that's not definite.

Fatou the main singer and guitar player of the band who lives deep in a village in the Sahel, was married recently in 2022 in an arranged Marriage via Family and since then things have not gone smoothly with her Husband. He now wants the band or more specifically to stop touring and stay at home to be his wife. This struggle has cause dalot of strife within the group and In their recent trips to the EU/USA there were alot of internal issues within the band on the road.

The band is essentially Fatou's band as it's her creation, she wrote all the songs and the music etc. Without her there are No Les Filles de Illighadad. They have informed me they will take a hiatus Until 2024 , but in reality , from where I am standing I do not see the band returning to the Live stage.

Apologies for this sad news, but this is life in rural Africa and in many other parts of the world to be honest.