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DISPATCH
Rocking
the citadel
The summer's
premier free festival continues to wow the crowds
Text and photos
by Tarek Atia
(cairolive.com,
August 19, 2002)
El-Fatih Hussein's
set was just wrapping up when we arrived at the El-Saha Stage. The sun
had already set, and twilight's magical glow filled the night. You
couldn't help but be in awe of the structures in front of you. Medieval
walls and a mosque with a silver dome whose minarets were raised
triumphantly towards the sky. The ancient structure -- this citadel of
Salahuddin that had stood proudly over the city for hundreds of years --
was vibrant with the sound of music tonight, as it has been for the past
10 nights. And the best part is that the annual Citadel Music Festival
is in full swing until the 21st, so there are still a few more days of
this stunning spectacle to see.
 The
concerts are free, and go on late into the night, on three different
stages within the citadel complex. The first stage, El-Saha, has the
mosque of Mohamed Ali as its backdrop. Three shows are performed there
every night, beginning at 7.
The night we went,
the troupe that played after El-Fatih Hussein went through a standard
repertoire of mid-speed Abdel-Halim Hafez and Um Kulthoum tunes. Things
like "Ya rayt ya rayt..." which had the crowd singing along
with the moody night wind.
The festival is a
chance for younger singers and musicians to perform in front of the
general public  on
a wide scale. And since the proceedings are televised, there's also the
chance of being interviewed and making a splash.
It's quite a family
venue as well. For most of
the night, all the way until the Enshad Deeni troupe got on stage, the
family of the troupe's drummer -- who were sitting behind us -- were
loudly speculating as to whether their loved one would be performing
tonight. Every once in a while, a family member would say, "Look,
there he is, by that door, getting dressed!". "No, no,
no, that's not him," would come a reply. When the troupe finally
got on stage and as they went through a rather extended sound check, it
became clear that their relative was nowhere
to be seen amongst the 20 or so men about to perform. "It's his bad
luck," someone said. "He should have called the maestro on the
mobile."
"The maestro
has a mobile?"
 "Well,
one of his 20 colleagues has one, and he could have talked to him on
that."
All of a sudden,
just as the concert was about to begin, their relative is spotted
off-stage, hurriedly putting on the troupe's green shirt and white robe uniform,
and rushing onto the stage, tabla in hand.
As he took his seat
relieved exclamations of "There he is, there he is!" were
voiced by most of the occupants of the seats behind us. And knowing how
proud they were of their drummer only made his -- and the rest of the
troupe's -- performance more enjoyable for the rest of us.
FROM THE
ARCHIVES:
Music for the stars
A mawwal in English caps off a fantastic night at the 2001 Citadel music
festival
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