Yes! Mashrou’ Leila Set to Rock AUC Again
BY FARAH ABDEL DAYEM
Lebanese alternative rock band Mashrou’ Leila will be performing at the AUC amphitheater at Gate 5 tonight for what is likely to be yet another epic concert.
Mashrou’ Leila is a particular favorite among AUCians – and Egyptian audiences in general. Their last two concerts in Egypt – at Porto Cairo Mall (March) and during the Cairo Jazz Festival last May were particularly successful.
They last played AUC in March 2013, a performance lead singer Hammed Sinno says he is unlikely to forget.
“We had a concert in AUC and someone threw their underwear on stage. We were all shocked, but it was kind of cool because I felt like Mick Jagger for a second,” Sinno recalled during an interview with the Caravan last year.
Stage antics and fan euphoria notwithstanding, many are noticeably excited by the band’s return.
According to AUC’s Peer Advising Leader (PAL) program, which is hosting the concert, tickets are sold out. On their Facebook page, they warn of a “black market” scalping – or reselling tickets illegally.
But this is unlikely to stop enthusiastic fans such as Malak El Ghazaly, a German University in Cairo student.
“I have been waiting for Mashrou’ Leila since the last time they came to Egypt. I really enjoy their taste of music which is unique and interesting.”
The band – Sinno, Haig Papazian (violinist), Carl Gerges (drummer), Firas Abu-Fakher (guitarist), and Ibrahim Badr (bass) – formed in Beirut, Lebanon in 2008 as a music workshop at the American University of Beirut.
Their use of bold, if not brazen, lyrics about social malaise in Lebanese and Arab society quickly set them on a distinct path among the mainstream Arabic music.
“We’ve gotten a lot closer as a band since it’s been six years now,” Sinno says.
“For our first album, we would find a riff and that would be the theme and everyone would work solely on it. Now, we all work together on the same song, and I like that a lot. There’s more group focus on the composition, chords, and how the voice is connected to the music.”
It is this approach that has endeared many fans (more than 233,000 followers on Facebook), who are disillusioned by the tired Arab pop genre.
“I like that they’re not afraid to bring up topics that are taboo in our society and that their music is powerful … They are changing the whole music scene in the Middle East,” says Nour Gizawy, an AUC psychology sophomore who will be among the cheering fans tonight.
“I’ve been to their concert before. They have so much energy on stage that you can’t help but dance even if you’ve never heard their music before.”
The bands discography includes Raasuk (2013), El Hal Romancy (2011), and debut Mashrou’ Leila (2009).
The band, says Sinno, is currently recording their fourth album which they hope to release through distribution companies in the Middle East and Europe.
