Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Concert in Ewert Hall
My wish came true. We PACKED Ewert Hall – a THOUSAND SEAT HALL!
El Humdelila!
The crowd was amazing. They were cheering the whole time. They adored Said, went crazy for Osama and were very excited about me and the Messengers. They also went wild for Pete’s beatboxing! Pete got to do a duet with Said playing on his mouth at the end of the show. It was amazing.
After all the stress of organizing this concert (and believe me it was VERY stressful at times) I enjoyed myself so much on stage with Said! I was completely relaxed and appreciating the moment!
The messengers did a great job. There was also a dumbek clown who did silly things with the dumbek, and an older man named Arabi Hannun who, it turns out, was Said’s first teacher! The sound was very powerful with thirty drummers.
Said’s Troupe and Messengers waiting for Sound Check
The funny thing is that Said and I both had really bad colds on the day of the show, but during the show we were both fine!
We all worked so hard for the concert that we all needed a vacation afterwards, so I rented a private bus for the morning after the concert and the Messengers plus a couple of my university students went to the Sinai Desert for four days! Ahhhhh! That was the closest thing to being in Paradise that I’ve experienced.
We were on the Red Sea in a gorgeous hotel on the beach. The place was totally deserted so we took over the entire beach! We went snorkeling, swam, ate, drank, smoked and mostly PRACTICED! The Sinai desert is the most inspiring place to practice! We all played hours and hours every day!
Every night after sunset the guys from the hotel would make us a bonfire and we would all drum until we went to sleep. It was very hard to leave there last night!
From left to right – Ava, Veronique, Britney, Lex, Vlado, Beat List, Moi, Marjory, Rami, Dominic.
Rami got the Red Sea all to himself!
Tonight we are playing at the Cairo Jazz Club. Wednesday we’re playing in Alexandria and Friday in El Minia! We’re traveling everywhere by train. Egyptian trains are really nice and comfortable.
Egyptian Saturday Night Live!
Rami and I were on the Egyptian version of Saturday Night Live! It’s called “Leila Kebira”. Actually we had no idea what it was going to be. We were just told that we would be on Dubai Television.
We came straight from dress rehearsal with Said so I looked really shabby. I wasn’t dressed up at all.
We arrived at the station and the lady from the show looked at me and said, “You’re not going to wear THAT, are you”? so she sent me over to “Hair” and “Makeup”. After spending some time there, I looked like one of those announcers on MTV.
Makeup – YUK!
Then they said “you're on” and we were led into this room full of screaming young people. The set looked just like Saturday Night Live. There was a handsome young movie star type who was the host sitting at a desk and the back drop was the Dubai sky line and there was an awesome band there with a fantastic nai player.
Whenever I’m on TV, there's an issue with how I sit, because I can’t sit on a normal chair and play! But when they are interviewing me it’s good if we are all on the same level, so everybody ends up sitting on the floor! It was hilarious when this fancy host came out behind his desk and joined us on the floor!
So that was my third TV appearance so far this trip, and now Rami and I can’t walk down one block without people recognizing us! Even in the Sinai Desert people were recognizing me from TV!
Next on the agenda – Tour of Egypt with Raquy and the Messengers – Cairo, Alex and Minia! Stay tuned!
El Humdelila!
The crowd was amazing. They were cheering the whole time. They adored Said, went crazy for Osama and were very excited about me and the Messengers. They also went wild for Pete’s beatboxing! Pete got to do a duet with Said playing on his mouth at the end of the show. It was amazing.
After all the stress of organizing this concert (and believe me it was VERY stressful at times) I enjoyed myself so much on stage with Said! I was completely relaxed and appreciating the moment!
The messengers did a great job. There was also a dumbek clown who did silly things with the dumbek, and an older man named Arabi Hannun who, it turns out, was Said’s first teacher! The sound was very powerful with thirty drummers.
Said’s Troupe and Messengers waiting for Sound Check
The funny thing is that Said and I both had really bad colds on the day of the show, but during the show we were both fine!
Restoration in the Sinai Desert
We all worked so hard for the concert that we all needed a vacation afterwards, so I rented a private bus for the morning after the concert and the Messengers plus a couple of my university students went to the Sinai Desert for four days! Ahhhhh! That was the closest thing to being in Paradise that I’ve experienced.
We were on the Red Sea in a gorgeous hotel on the beach. The place was totally deserted so we took over the entire beach! We went snorkeling, swam, ate, drank, smoked and mostly PRACTICED! The Sinai desert is the most inspiring place to practice! We all played hours and hours every day!
Every night after sunset the guys from the hotel would make us a bonfire and we would all drum until we went to sleep. It was very hard to leave there last night!
From left to right – Ava, Veronique, Britney, Lex, Vlado, Beat List, Moi, Marjory, Rami, Dominic.
Rami got the Red Sea all to himself!
Egypt Tour this week!
Tonight we are playing at the Cairo Jazz Club. Wednesday we’re playing in Alexandria and Friday in El Minia! We’re traveling everywhere by train. Egyptian trains are really nice and comfortable.Egyptian Saturday Night Live!
Rami and I were on the Egyptian version of Saturday Night Live! It’s called “Leila Kebira”. Actually we had no idea what it was going to be. We were just told that we would be on Dubai Television.We came straight from dress rehearsal with Said so I looked really shabby. I wasn’t dressed up at all.
We arrived at the station and the lady from the show looked at me and said, “You’re not going to wear THAT, are you”? so she sent me over to “Hair” and “Makeup”. After spending some time there, I looked like one of those announcers on MTV.
Makeup – YUK!
Then they said “you're on” and we were led into this room full of screaming young people. The set looked just like Saturday Night Live. There was a handsome young movie star type who was the host sitting at a desk and the back drop was the Dubai sky line and there was an awesome band there with a fantastic nai player.
Whenever I’m on TV, there's an issue with how I sit, because I can’t sit on a normal chair and play! But when they are interviewing me it’s good if we are all on the same level, so everybody ends up sitting on the floor! It was hilarious when this fancy host came out behind his desk and joined us on the floor!
So that was my third TV appearance so far this trip, and now Rami and I can’t walk down one block without people recognizing us! Even in the Sinai Desert people were recognizing me from TV!
Upcoming Tour!
Next on the agenda – Tour of Egypt with Raquy and the Messengers – Cairo, Alex and Minia! Stay tuned!# posted by Scott Dexter @ 10:32 AM 
