ALEXANDRIA: Progressive rock is alive and well in Egypt. The first and second place winners of Sakia's first Rock Festival, held in the fall of 2009, played the first leg of the “Winners of the Sakia Rock Festival mini-tour” in the small theatre at the Library of Alexandria on Sunday night. Azrak Samawy, winners of the festival, opened the show in their hometown of Alexandria. Azrak Samawy calls itself a progressive Arabic / instrumental rock band, and their very unique fusion of Arab influences and progressive rock combined with the skills of excellent musicians brings a distinctively new element to the Egyptian music scene. The band's lineup consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Muhammad AbdolQader, keyboardist Mahmoud Said, bassist Emad Elwany, drummer Mohamed Amin, and guitarist Amr Fathy. Progressive rock band and second place winner SimpleXity took to the stage next. Created by guitarist Omar El-Deeb and keyboardist Hatem Ghaleb, their lineup was completed in 2007 with bassist Noor Ayman and drummer Aly Hassab El Naby. SimpleXity draws its influences from classical and jazz to hard rock and death metal, and the result is an original and distinctive sound. Exceptional musicianship and stage presence combined with intricate composition and an intimate understanding of dissonance and consonance defines the simple and complex nature of SimpleXity. The second leg of the mini-tour will take place on Sunday, March 28 in SimpleXity's hometown of Cairo at the Sakia River Hall. The show starts at 8:30pm and tickets are 20LE. The final round of Sakia's first Rock Festival took place on Saturday, October 17 between the top six bands of over fifty who initially applied. In addition to the Sakia Rock Festival, SimpleXity won Best Rock Band in the Nokia Xpressmusic Festical in 2008. SimpleXity won out of 16 finalist bands chosen from dozens more who applied for the competition. Both bands played the SOS Music Festival in 2009 and have played various other shows and festivals across Egypt. BM
