Hakim in concert

Last saturday night , the king of Shaábi music came to Stockholm for a concert. I missed him the first time he was in Stockholm(i was in Egypt), so naturally i wanted to be there. He had a concert in Oslo the night before, and was not feeling well, so my expectations were not high. The concert venue was not sold out, another discouraging factor. Then the band entred the stage casually late, or right on time according to rock tradition, and suddenly he sneaked in on us, and bang Salamu Aleikum! One of the strongest openings of a concert that i´ve ever experienced. When the intro to Ifred masalan begins as song number three, Hakim starts directing the crowd, hé´ says ¨Make them feel it´s an arabic party¨ The crowd responds and it´s one of the most intense sequences during the night. I myself was very confused by his choice of playing, what´s in my view is his best song so early. I was hoping for a crescendo of extras at the end. But my caution was proven to be unfounded. Hakim had managed to connect with the crowd. He and his band of 14 musicians gave them exactly what they was longing for, a Aíd party with so much energy and happiness. The crowd reached an all time high when Hakim´s famous duet with Olga(no she was not there) , aah ya Alby was played, perhaps due to some local affinity for the suburb south of Stockholm with the same name. And then Salamu aleikum once again , one hour and fourty minutes after the first tune. This was going to be the final song of course, no extras, but it really didn´t matter that much because of the sheer warmth and happiness that the 15 people on stage created toghether with an enthusiastic crowd ,this was in sharp contrast to the weather outside, the first snow had just arrived , cold but nice, and an entirely different story altogheter.

Egypt