Germany's Scorpions rocked the Pyramid grounds in Giza and fans want more, writes Hicham Safieddine "Alright Cairo! Shokran, shokran," yelled out the band's front man and vocalist Klaus Meine. The crowd loved it. It was last Thursday and the country's rock community had a date with history. Night had fallen and a full moon was peering through a cloud-sprinkled sky above Giza. For close to 4,000 spectators flanked by the towering Pyramids on one side and an endless expanse of desert on the other, the myth-infused atmosphere suited their mood perfectly. The Scorpions were performing live in concert in Cairo -- and they were part of it. To the deafening sound of wild cheers and the welcoming waving of raised hands, the pumped-up band members emerged on stage around 10pm and kicked off a two-hour round of unplugged rock play. "It is so beautiful to be here for the first time, in front of the mighty Pyramids," cried Meine, who was sporting his trademark zebra-striped shirt and black cap. "It means so much for us to come here and play for you in Egypt, a country with such a beautiful culture." The crowd surged and swooned, and the music echoed across the waves of spectators who where divided into a standing group in the centre facing the stage (LE350 a ticket) and VIP ticket holders (LE1,200) who lounged on comfy couches in specially designated areas surrounding the central concourse. One crazy fan broke through the security barrier sealing the stage off from the spectators. Tiago, a Brazilian teenager residing in Cairo, later told Al-Ahram Weekly his adventure was a dream come true. He had jumped on the bandstand, embraced Klaus and his band mates who lifted him up in the air, and scurried back to reality in a sprint. Back on stage, the veteran band members, whose compositions vary from powerful rock riffs to emotional rock ballads, played their classics "Still Loving You" and "Wind of Change" with the occasional accompaniment of a cellist, an innovative experiment the band had launched with their unplugged "Acoustica" album released in 2001. The band's Cairo show was part of their 2005 Middle East Peace for All Tour, which included a stopover in Doha, Qatar. While this is their first foray into the region's live music scene, the Scorpions are no strangers to breaking political boundaries with the penetrating power of their songs. The band's 1990 release of their album "Crazy World" coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall. "Wind of Change" tackled the socio-political changes that were unfolding in eastern Europe with the defeat of communism. It became an instant hit (worldwide top single for 1991) and it catapulted the quintet into the limelight. On 21 July 1990 the Scorpions joined world class bands in the massive performance of The Wall in Berlin and became the first Western group to perform in the former Soviet Union. The band, founded in the mid-1960s, had already seen glorious days in the 1980s following the commercial success of their 1984 album "Love at First Sting" and their 1982 "Blackout". The motto of their current tour is "Wind is blowing east". It may be an indirect reference to the current climate of change sweeping through the region from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq. The picture is not as rosy as it was in eastern Europe 15 years ago, but the band hopes their presence will somehow contribute to the push for peace in the region. The political motivation partly behind the tour, however, was not so much on the mind of the audience as their appreciation for the artistic value the Scorpions brought to Egypt. For many rock aficionados, the concert was a milestone in the efforts to dispel lingering myths about rock, like its connection to devil worship, and to pique the interest of younger generations in this genre of music. More concerts of this nature are something they are thirsty for. Dani Eid, product manager at music megastore Virgin, told the Weekly the concert had boosted sales of hard rock and heavy metal records. "I wish we could have concerts like this more often so we can raise awareness which I think is bit by bit happening among youths," Eid said. He said the whole process of bringing a world famous band for a live show and sponsoring the event through CD shops and music stores creates an environment that enhances the idea of quality music as a lifestyle and fights the culture of piracy prevalent in Egypt. It can also broaden the fan base of the genre, he added. Back in Giza, the fact that spectators from all walks of life attended the performance seemed to attest to rock's diverse audience. The mostly male crowd included teenagers who freely jumped in the air holding beer cans in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, middle aged couples holding hands, and older veteran Scorpions fans eager to relive their memories of when the band shot to stardom in the 1980s and early 1990s. Several of the young women present wore headscarves. One of them, Farida Sonbol, saw no contradiction between abiding by conservative Islamic teachings and being a rock fan. "If I wear a hijab, it doesn't mean I should listen to Arabic or slow music," explains the 28-year-old who was accompanied by her husband. "I have been a Scorpions fan from when I was young and my family is perfectly OK with it. The lyrics and the music are really touching and you can feel how moving it is once you become a fan." For the uninitiated, rock can seem a harsh, sometimes bullying genre of music. But if you attend a mainstream rock concert like the Scorpions' you'll discover most rock aficionados wear their hearts on their sleeves, something last week's crowd lived up to.
