An Evening with Hossam Ramzy
On Friday the 9th of October, I took a trip to Bristol to see Hossam Ramzy at the City Academy. We set out at 1pm, but even that early getting to Bristol was a bit of a nightmare – who imagines stationary traffic at 3 in the afternoon? We battled the traffic with a coffee pit-stop for encouragement, checked into our hotel and went off to the show.
There was no where near the venue to park, so we had a little trek through the streets to get back to the Academy, and then we had to find the right building. Several of them were emblazoned with ‘City Academy Bristol,’ but hearing the lovely strains of an Arabic violin drifting through the doors of one building, we knew we had found the right one. A quick glance around at the waiting fans and you could see Hossam’s wide appeal, as there were fans of every description and age present.
Before going in, we stopped at the table where Hossam’s CD and DVDs were on sale and bought ourselves a few. While I was looking for the things we didn’t already have, I heard someone calling , ‘Annie, Annie, hello!’ It was Hossam, who had come out from his sound check to say hello to some of the guests. He was fairly quickly swamped with fans who spotted him, so we had a quick hug and hello before we went into the auditorium.
The first two rows were marked as reserved for VIP guests, so we took a seat right in the front row, dead centre. Richard always wants to go back a few rows where he knows the sound will be better, but hey – I wanted see everything as well as hear it, so we stayed at the front. The venue slowly filled up, and just about ten minutes before the show started, in walked a tall gentleman with long curly blonde hair, carrying a big bag. It was Robert Plant. He sat right near me just across the aisle. Cool.
Hossam was introduced by a very enthusiastic lady who picked up his mic for her introduction. She left it centre stage, so when Hossam came out to play his first order of duty was going to fetch it after noticing it was no longer near him. He is very warm and personable, so I instantly felt like I was at a friend’s house for the evening as he joked about having to work for a living while setting his mic back up. Incidentally, he had to do it again later because she did the exact same thing after the interval.
After introducing the band, they launched into the first number, which featured a gorgeous flute solo that floated hauntingly around the room. Now, I love Hossam’s music, but I am sorry to say that I can’t pronounce the names of the numbers, so I don’t have a set list for those of you who know his music well. But the titles hardly matter, the music is simply amazing. If you haven’t experienced Arabic music, you are really missing out. I first got into it by listening to Robert and Jimmy talking about their musical influences, and as usual, where they go musically, I am glad to follow. It’s definitely something you should add to your music library.
Hossam had some local dancers share the stage with the band. Having never seen belly dancing live before, I was unsure if I would like this part of the evening, but my doubts were short lived, because they were great! Lots of fun and very graceful – just terrific to watch. I was just fascinated. All of the guest dancers did a lovely job, but Hossam’s wife Serena is something else again. You could see instantly that she was something special just by the way she carried herself on to the stage, and she was divine. I could watch her dance all night. She was so captivating that at times you almost forgot about the music. When I chatted to her at my launch party I asked her about learning to belly dance she told me how much work she put into the art, and it really showed. I loved watching her.
Hossam told us bits and pieces about the music he was playing, and so I learned more about Arab culture along the way too. Every musician on that stage was superb with their instrument, but like his wife’s dancing, Hossam is a cut above, and a master of his drum. There wasn’t one person leaving that building that didn’t have a huge smile on their face excitedly praising the show. They played until around 10.45 I think – time sort of flew past!
One funny incident happened, during one number the musician playing a tambourine looked down to see the jingles on it falling off. He lost several of them, but carried on valiantly as the drummer next to him laughed at his predicament. All was well for him after the interval.
If we absolutely had to find something to criticise, Richard thought the sound was just slightly too loud. It was a wonderful, wonderful evening. If you have never seen Hossam play, I urge you to go if you get the chance. I am hoping to have him play somewhere at a Memories in Music event. If you love music, Hossam and Serena’s show is one of those things in life that you owe it to yourself to experience.
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October 11th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
This sounds just awesome! I love drums, too, and belly dancing. It’s a great work out, and sexy too!
Planty showed up? How cool! He does get around, just a few days ago he was at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco.
Glad you had a good time Annie!
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 am
Hi,
Everything dynamic and very positively!
Eremeeff
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:15 am
Eremeeff, did you attend the show as well?