Album review of Homer Mekomi, Hadag Nachash's latest.
By BEN JACOBSONhadag nachash 88.298(photo credit: )
A rock band that mixes funked-out grooves with hip-hop delivery, Jerusalem's own Hadag Nahash has joined the ranks of Sheva and Shotei Hanevuah as Israeli fusion rock exports. The success of the band's latest album, Homer Mekomi, has sent it on mini-tours of the US, while its biting "Sticker Song" has inspired a university curriculum on the political baggage carried by Israeli bumper stickers.
Even the album's title carries weight. While Homer Mekomi literally means "local product," in Israeli slang it refers to home-grown contraband. The album cover plays with these concepts, depicting Israeli peanut-butter-flavored snack food Bamba strewn all over the foreground.
Hadag Nahash was set to perform as a warm-up act for hip-hop godfathers Run-DMC at October 1998's Prophecy festival. But when the show began to run late, Hadag Nahash was pulled from the schedule, and its members lamented that they'd lost their "big break" (for more on this historic event, see www.prophecymovie.com).
How far they've come since then.
The band has claimed that this is its last round of shows in support of Homer Mekomi, so one might think twice about missing this Thursday's appearance at the Ma'abada in Jerusalem, which kicks off a headlining weekend for the venue. On Friday, Aviv Geffen presents acoustic versions of the pop songs that made him famous, accompanied by cohort Daniel Solomon, with doors opening at 10 p.m. Then Evyatar Banai's show goes on this Saturday night, with doors opening at 9:30.
Hadag Nahash's Thursday show is scheduled for 10 p.m. For more information, call the Ma'abada box office at (02) 629-2000.
