Egypt's iconic band, known for singing covers in 1960s throughout the 1980s will reunite on 17 August at the opening of the 25th edition of Citadel Festival for Music and Singing. The lineup of the concert will include Sadek Gallini, Sobhi Bidair, Pino Phares and Wagdi Francis in addition to Ezzat Abo Ouf, who played in Les Petits Chat before embarking on an acting career, becoming one of the most renowned Egyptian actors in past decades. The band will be accompanied by Nayer Nagui on piano and Rami Soussou on keyboards and vocals. Les Petits Chats band was launched in 1967 as a quintet that included vocalist and band manager Wagdi Francis, Ezzat Abou Ouf on keyboards, Omar Khairat on drums, and guitarists Freddy Rizk and Bert Andresia. Throughout the years, the lineup changed many times, incorporating names such as saxophonist Lukas, singers Sobhi Bidair, Talaat Zein and Hussein Serag Rady, keyboardists Hany Shenouda and Hany Meimary, and guitarist Pino Phares. As their popularity soared, concerts across Egypt were soon supplemented with regional appearances in Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, etc. The band suspended performances in the late 1980s, yet Les Petit Chats made their return in 2009 with all crucial members performing. Since 2009, the band reunited on several occasions, yet under the name of Les Petits Chats singers, since their line-up included the four singers: Sadek Gallini, Sobhi Bidair, Pino Phares and Wagdi Francis. On 17 August the four singers will be joined by a rare appearance of Ezzat Abu Ouf. The festival will run until 2 September with two concerts held daily, at 8pm and 10pm. The Citadel Festival was inaugurated in 1989, and since then it has taken place every year since, except for 2013 when the opera management cited the security concerns as the reason of the events' cancellation. The festival was launched with the aim to bring music to people who might not go to formal concerts. It is the time when for a symbolic fee of LE 5, the audiences of all generations and social strata can enjoy many renowned musicians performing orchestral music, oriental melodies, classical, popular, jazz among others. Check the festival's complete programme here Programme Wednesday 17 August, 8pm El-Mahka theatre, Cairo Citadel For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
