The first concert was held in Meknes, in the square outside our apartment, to commemorate Amazigh New Year on Saturday 1/9. Noha (my Egyptian teacher & friend) and I decided to venture out to stand in the crowd, which was definitely very youthful - a popular Moroccan rapper, Muslim, was scheduled to be the headliner that night. He's very well-known to the point that I was surprised that he put on a free show in Meknes of all places! The first act was supposed to start at 6 PM - but of course, Moroccan time meant that it actually started around 6:45 PM ... and it was a Mexican mariachi band! It was sort of surreal to hear that kind of music from across the Atlantic, and even weirder to think that probably most of these teenagers haven't been exposed to mariachi music before. Their act came and went, and a Moroccan group called Agraf was up next. I liked them - it seemed like they were a modern alternative band with a folksy side.
Until this point, Noha and I had been standing at the far edge of the crowd, but as it thinned out we decided to move forward into an area that was closer to the stage but yet not filled with people. While we were listening to the music, however, a huge group of people to the right of us started running in our direction and so we ran too. It was thankfully nothing, but nevertheless we decided we had had enough of the crowd experience for one night and went back to the apartment where Anna and Cat had made an awesome chicken noodle soup. We were enjoying dinner together when Muslim finally took the stage - from our apartment we could see the whole audience and it was definitely the biggest crowd I've seen in Meknes to date! He played for about an hour, and in the middle of his set we got to enjoy a fireworks show (also a Meknes first) from the other side of the square. It was a cool experience to take part in, and even neater that we could enjoy it from the comfort of our home!
Last Saturday 1/16, Cat, Anna, and I decided to go to Rabat to see Saad Lamjarred perform. Saad is probably among the most famous Moroccan pop singers - and his song "L'Maa3lim" is not only well-known in Morocco but across the Arab world. We returned to the same theatre we visited for the festival in November and had bought tickets to sit in the second balcony area; however, when we went to go sit down, the employee in that area directed us to the first balcony area (which was not as high up) and told us to try to find seats there - at that point I think he was just trying to be nice. We couldn't find a set of three together, so we returned to say thank you and go to our original section when he said he could get us floor seats - although of course we'd have to pay. Cat was able to haggle him down to about $10 more per person, saying we didn't have a lot of money while Anna and I played hardball. He relented and we got to sit in the first orchestra area with no issues, only paying half the original price for that section! It was a very surreal series of events but definitely made for a more enjoyable concert experience.
Saad, of course, was also running on Moroccan time and started his set around 9:45 PM rather than the 9 PM time that was stated on the tickets. He played through all of his greatest hits, with short breaks for other performers. The energy was definitely very high and the audience was singing along and dancing. A lot of the audience members on the floor were in the aisleways close to the stage, trying to get close enough so that when he descended from the stage during a couple of his songs they could get pictures. Saad also had a song where he was being handed small children that he would carry across the stage - very strange but memorable for the parents I suppose. Overall it was a fun show for all!
I have a lot of other exciting events to look forward to as well. From tomorrow ...
8 days until my birthday
1 month + 11 days until Jenna comes to visit
3 months + 14 days until the end of classes
4 months until home
PS - For those wondering, the Internet restrictions haven't been lifted yet. Will continue to post updates!