hi this was supposed to go up friday but i wanted to get my thoughts in order bc i want this to be semi good ok yeet this'll be a concert review for the mashrou' leila concert i was at friday
if you don't know who mashrou' leila is (if you're not from the middle east you probably don't) they're a five piece band from lebanon. they've had a ten year independent run and are just overall super talented songwriters and artists and some of the only ones in the middle easteren music scene who don't shy away from talking shit about politicians, tackling classism and misogyny and sexual rights. theyre also super prominent because the lead singer Hamed Sinno is one of the veryvery few openly gay musicians around here. ps theyve since been banned from Egypt and Jordan just because of their lyrics.
so anyway friday they were back home! it was so overwhelming actually seeing them. i've been a fan for a solid two years but this is their first show back home where they're not playing some underground nightclub that my parents wouldnt DREAM sending me to but the venue was super cute and outdoor and i had amazing seats, i was standing right behind Hamed's family so i was geeking!
they came on an hour and a half late, hamed saying that he "was trying to lose weight backstage, but it didn't work out". he comes out in a long golden robe and apologises for being late telling us about how his microphone wasn't working. eventually when his robe came off he told us that it turns out it had metal in it and that's why it was interfering with the mic feedback lmaooksksks
i thought the night was so sweet and heartwarming honestly, i had never been in such a safe space not only for queer youths but for everyone there. at one point a guy's hand brushed against my ass and he spent a solid half minute apologising then he asked me if i wanted him to film for me since he was way taller and could get a better view.
but i do want to talk about all the queer youths there! i think it's definitely so foreign to westerners, the concept that being queer in this brown community is soso targeted. just last year after mashrou' leila's last concert in egypt the egyptian government hacked gay dating apps and arrested multiple gay people just because ONE pride flag was at their concert. (if u guys want to look up their statements they're actually really heartfelt and well articulated and anyway).
it was just a great place to be. the guy next to me opened his instagram to add to his story and the first thing on his feed was a picture of 2 girls kissing with a pride flag behind them. i saw boys dancing together and holding hands and wearing makeup and weird outfits. right in front of the stage a group of boys had all brought a couple of them victorian hand fans with rainbows on them. at one point hamed had come close to the ground and mid singing when a boy threw one of the fans to him hamed saluted him and smiled really big, and that was REALLY validating.
you know what else was validating? when they introduced their song Kalaam talking about how the fact that even our words are so gendered that we carry all this gender discrimination around with us, and that women should be allowed to pass their lebanese citizenship to their kids. that they introduced their song Tayf by dedicating it to a past president who shut down a muslim transgender club in Hamra, singing about how even on death row they sew pride flags on their dead friends coffins. when they performed a song they wrote for palestine and called israel Trash right before the performance.
i just thought it was a really great time and usually concert reviews are one of the things that really geek me out about music journalism but i just wanted to talk about how safe i felt there, maybe? maybe i'll rewrite this who knows ! also theyre going on tour in the us and europe sisters i would highlyyy recommend going not just for the Gay but also for their banging music and also the members are hot and thats the tea i'll c u all later tx 4 reading
