Last night House of Tarab played 2 shows. 1st was at cafe ibex. We are trying to get a monthly going but we've been so busy recording the marketing has really suffered. The audience for ibex was great all 32 of them... small crowd but really energetic. i like doing intimate shows but come on we had Elisa Gamal she is one of the best dances in town... last one there was sold out! well what can you do....anyway it was cool David, busted out the mizmar we did a bunch of saidi and debke, i think for the 1st time we had the Whole audience on the floor. that rocked.
We finished at 11pm, packed up, headed to downtown pioneer square to play for Delilah and Tayissa at the Utilikilts 7 year itch party...a total cicrus of acts, fire, dance, comedy, freaks etc,... we we got there around midnight and act on stage was stapling dollar bills to them selves along with help from the crowd ...the bigger the # on the bill the more disturbing the area it was attached to.... if you know what i mean... think jackass the movie hehe. picture this: a free party full of kilt wearing pieced tattooed modern primitive burningman crowd; and in walks House of Tarab minus David, tuxedos, fez'es...but this crowd is cool, not even an askance look.. we go on at 1 am the crowd is pumped, drunk, not to drunk though, and ready for...well their not sure but ready...the pain freaks, some comedy acts, a bunch of pounding house and tekno.... then we get up on stage tux'es, fez'ez, violin, oud, tabl balady and darbuka.. the audience is dumbfounded at the site of us... we bust out with ala bali a heavy saidi folk tune...eyebrows raise in the audience...Tayissa enters stage(this is a smalllll stage, 4 of us with instruments leaves about a 2 by 6 space..she rocks,a sort of neo tribal costuming, tight dancing with good interpretation. She kills the crowd, they are screaming, she exits gracefully and the violin takes over, Sallah is on fire he is playing in nahawand then saba, violin screaming in agony, Delilah enters.... its all over now the audience is silent, jane and i start a slow wahda to compliment his feel...Delilah is milking every note, she is the music... at this moment you could hear a pin drop in a crowd of several hundred. he plays, does his thing and then the qafla, we close... a moment of silence like an observation for the dead... then this crowd comes back to it's senses, an explosion of screaming and applause. We go to aziza, crowd pressed against the stage still screaming the accolades , a drum solo and exit with tuta....definitely one of the most fun shows i've done!