WAMA: The Egyptian Backstreet Boys rock the Nile
WAMA saying goodbye and goodnight after an hour or so of pop odes to love.
Last Friday night I found myself clapping in sync with hundreds of upper middle class Egyptian twenty-somethings under a bridge along the Nile.
We were all at the Sawy Cultural Center to see WAMA, a four-person boy band from Egypt, sing their latest pop hits. The popularity of this band, as described to me by a friend who has lived in Cairo for a number of years, seemed to necessitate a stadium to accomodate all the fans. However the tickets were 25 L.E. a piece – a mere $5 to me – but nearly three to five times the cost of other concerts, thereby making this concert an impossibility for many to attend.
The Sawy Cultural Center was the perfect venue though. Located under the 26th of July bridge on the western edge of Zamalek, the stage has the feeling of secluded intimacy with the occasional rumble of trucks overhead and the constant rhythmic honking in the background (beeep–beeep–beep-beep-beep).
The crowd was mostly twenty-somethings in mixed groups – guys and girls seemed to be relaxed and were hanging out together, something I haven’t witnessed much of since arriving in Cairo. After weeks of walking past young men on the streets who watch my every move, it was refreshing to be pretty anonymous in the crowd. Women and men jumped up and down during the songs, raising their arms above their heads and clapping to the rhythm, challenging my assumptions as to acceptable concert behavior in conservative Cairo.
WAMA played their hits for over an hour (although I recognized the melody of their current big hit at least four times during the show). There were no encores – in fact, the crowd began their hurried dash to the exit as soon as WAMA turned to leave the stage.
Camera and video phones are all the rage with this crowd. I watched my behviour carefully, lest I become the latest victim of YouTube noteriety.
The guy in the middle is an audience member plucked out of the front row. Dreams do come true!
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