Gorillaz did an encore in Syria

In the history of concerts, I have never been to any concert in which the band didn't do an encore, they leave, we beg them, and they come back. You see, if we don't beg, it means they sucked! But Gorillaz didn't, they did wonderfully throughout the performance, at one people the audience booed. Read details here.

They performed yesterday in Damascus, and according to a friend of mine who attended the concert yesterday, they did perform an encore in Damascus' concert.

I personally agree with this comment, I think we were punished. Thus the no encore, more like the "plus moins". We are an epic fail sometimes.

Gorillaz and Boooooing Syria

Gorillaz
Even though I was not the biggest fan of Gorillaz, as soon as I heard that they were coming to Lebanon, I knew I had to see them and it would be a one time experience/opportunity thing. This is not just any rock or jazz band, it's Gorillaz!!!!

Their performance
The alternative rock, electronic, indie, hip hop, pop, rap... band seriously rocked the stage on Tuesday July 20 in Byblos. It was beautiful, even though a short performance with no "encore" :( , the vibes were amazing, and I cannot stress on how exhilarating it is to see the huge letters forming the band's name GORILLAZ in the back of the stage! The seats were full (and no one remained seated!), and the standing was more than full, I think there was more than 5000 attendees.

Music played
From the playlist, there was Stylo, On melancholy hill, Superfast JellyFish,  Kids with Guns, and my favorite two that were performed last Clint Eastwood and Feel Good Inc. What an amazing feeling to finally get to hear the famous laugh! HA HA HAHAHAHA...

White Flag and the Syrian orchestra
White Flag from their latest album "Plastic Beach" was performed with the collaboration of the Syrian Orchestra who in my opinion did a great job in the oriental intro of the song. They also performed a fully oriental piece just prior to White Flag. And... yes there was a huge white flag flapping around the stage.

I shot several videos, but the audio quality of my digital cam is very low, so unfortunately I cannot share them.

Boooooing the Syrians, seriously?
When the nice lead member of Gorillaz mentioned that they're very happy to be performing in Lebanon, everyone WOOOOOOed... then immediately afterwords he continued that they're also happy that they'll perform in Syria as well (trying to convey how happy they are that the Gorillaz are in the Middle East for the first time), people BOOOOOOed loud for about 4-5 seconds.... I was really really really ashamed. And to think the name of the song is White Flag, how ironic.

This is music people, let us leave our prejudice, stereotypes and complete and utter silliness out of it.

Gorillaz to play in Damascus on Sunday July 25th
People in Syria, ENJOY! You're going to LOVE it. It was one of the best concerts I've ever attended.

Where to go when you visit Lebanon - Site 10: Beirut

I had already written about Gemayze almost 4 years ago, and about Hamra here (such an authentic city) and here (where I compared it to Paris) a year ago or so. And now I want to extend to other parts of Beirut, which are Downtown Beirut and Raouche.

I have to admit it was the first time I see the famous Raouche Rock, and I have lived all my life in Lebanon only 15 minutes away from it. There are many restaurants that face the rock, which makes an exquisite view and ambiance, when I took this photo I was at BayRock Café.

Where to go when you visit Lebanon - Site 9: Beiteddine

Last Saturday I attended Pink Martini's concert. A month ago I did not know who Pink Martini were, but when Beiteddine Festivals announced their program, I got curious about them and heard pretty good feedback about them from my surroundings, so I downloaded several songs, listened to them and immediately fell in love with them.

This year, the stage is different, much bigger than last year's, this time it is facing north, and the sea, is on the left, even though it cannot be seen clearly, the sunset however is just beautiful, and this is something that we didn't get to see last year, as the stage was facing east, and the sea was behind us.