CAIRO: Sakia's third Rock Festival at El Sawy Culture Wheel ended earlier this week. Sixteen bands participated in the festival over five days. Headstock, a hard rock band, won the first place prize of 10,000LE. The five-member group formed earlier this year says their major influences are old-school rock bands such as AC/DC. The festival opened on Wednesday, October 13 with a performance by The Public. A four-piece progressive rock band, The Public won the award for best original song in Sakia's first Rock Festival in the fall of 2009. This year, the award for best original song went to Azrak Samawy, who placed first in Sakia's first rock festival. Azrak Samawy plays only original material and brings a truly unique sound to Egypt's music scene, offering an unique blend of progressive Arabic and instrumental rock. Profile, a group which plays mostly acoustic and pop music covers, tied for second place with blues band Bluenotes. Tied in third place were Replica, who play a mixture of classic rock, alternative, and rock n'roll, and Top Hat Rats, who play rock n'roll with punk influences. Each of Sakia's rock festivals have been held in coordination with AndromidA band. Formed in Alexandria in 1988, AndromidA considers itself to be the oldest rock band in Egypt. The band, which gave a performance at the closing ceremony of the rock festival, plays a mixture of classic and progressive rock from the 70's. El Sawy Culture Wheel is one of the few venues in Egypt open to rock bands, something the bands are keenly aware of. Sakia's rock festivals over the past year have allowed both established groups such as Azrak Samawy and newly formed bands such as Replica to play for eager audiences. In a statement in the festival's program, Mohamed El Sawy wrote, “Now, it's the turn of rock fans to prove that rock music has its wide audience and that it is free from all the prejudices that it undergoes.” BM
