Cairo's renowned musician Fathy Salama performed an 'Oriental Indie Rock' concert with his band Sharkiat at the Cairo Opera House on 23 April. The concert was set for 9 April, but was re-scheduled due to the bombings that took place in Tanta and Alexandria. "After the two-church bombings on 9 April we all felt very dispirited, and the country was in mourning for three days, so we rescheduled it three times. Thanks to the Opera House we are performing it tonight," Salama announced before the concert. Salama and Sharkiat performed some of his well known hits including Amm, Nubi and Nahawand, however what made this concert different was the revival of his 1998 album titled Don't Climb The Pyramids, which was made in collaboration with Swiss rock band Les Maniacs. Vocalist Amr Yehia was the special guest for the concert, performing alongside Salama and the Sharkiat band members, Ayman Sedky (percussion), Saleh El-Artist (accordion), Sherif Alaa (guitars), Wael Alfashny (percussion and vocals), Ramadan Mansour (tabla), Andre Segone (bass) and Simo (Drums). Additionally the evening featured participants from 'The North African' concert competition. Cairo Opera House Open theatre (Photo: Omar Abdelhamid) Salama's 2-decade career included composing for the Egyptian National Theatre (1991-1993) performing at the 1994 Berlin Jazz Festival with the German oud player Roman Bunka and bassist Malachi Favors from the Art Ensemble of Chicago, which culminated with the Color Me Cairo album. His album Egypt received a Grammy award and a BBC music award in 2004 for Best Contemporary World Music Album. In 2000 he received two first prizes from the Cairo International Film Festival prize for the soundtracks of Fallen Angels Paradise and Signs of April. (Photo: Omar Abdelhamid) Vocalist Amr Yehia guest of the show, with Sharkiat band (Photo: Omar Abdelhamid) Fathy Salama (Photo: Omar Abdelhamid) Guitarist Sherif Alaa from Sharkiat (Photo: Omar Abdelhamid) Fathy Salama (Photo: Omar Abdelhamid) 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
