Black was the theme of the night. The audience was mainly between 16 and 21 year- olds. As far as that age group was concerned, Idlemind definitely delivered. Describing themselves as "self-sufficient, the group write their own lyrics and compose their own music. "Everything we sing about is something one of us has experienced, said singer/guitarist Mohamed Maged. "We sing about politics, personal issues, love, hate, friendship. They also throw in a few popular covers for good measure. "But we play them for [the audience] because we know [they] like them, said Youssef Altay, the band's drummer, before playing two Muse covers. But for the discerning ear, the band delivers more noise and less melody. Although they claim to play different kinds of rock, it sounded like pure hard rock to me. Yet 19-year-old Omar Fathalla and his 18-year-old friend Mostafa Mohamed said that if the music was any softer, it would've been tedious. "It's perfect this way, they said after hearing the band for the first time. As for the performance, the band interacted well with the crowd, head-banging and running enthusiastically up and down the stage. To celebrate Halloween, there was best costume competition where the Grim Reaper emerged as the favorite. I was wrong to think everyone was in costume, though. With flowing black hair and wearing mostly black make up, 21-year-old Sonia says that's the kind of make up she always wears to rock concerts. Maged, however, sees no connection between black and heavy metal. "I don't know why some people relate black to heavy metal, he said. I was wearing a dark red shirt myself. The color of your clothes has nothing to do with the kind of music you like. The first time 18-year-old Amanda saw the band was in 2004, and she liked them ever since. She says the rock scene in Egypt is picking up. "More people go to rock concerts now. Not everyone is about rock though. Some people really enjoy rock music, but some people are just pretentious, she said. Maged, Jack Avakian, bass player guitarist; Karim Maghrabi, now studying in the US; and drummer Youssef Altay formed Idlemind in 2003. "Everyone is exposed to the media, and their brains don't work anymore. We represent that generation that was brought up in these conditions, Altay said. "That's why we chose to call our band Idlemind. For more information, visit: www.idle-mind.com.
