The alternative music scene in Alexandria, a buoy that never sinks.
By Bassem Sameh
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| The alternative music scene in Alexandria |
Since the 1880s when the British army occupied Alexandria port. The alternative music scene in Alexandria never died.
Alexandria had Sayed Darwish out to the world from the Kom Al Dikka area. A place known to be for the working class who used to work as servants for the Nobles from different parts of the world. Alexandria was a cosmopolitan melting pot at that time.
Songs about resistance, some profoundly serious and some very satirical. He made songs that speak about how Sudan and Egypt are one, 60 years before they became 2 countries. He was despised by the British army to the extent that some stories say that he was poisoned by them.
After the Sayed Darwish phase, in the 1920s till the 1940s there was a big control on the music scene. The occupation did not want any voice that’s against them.
Music spreads like a virus, no matter how it is distributed or produced. Between farmers in a field or ladies while putting their kids to sleep or cooking in the kitchen, not only vinyls and streaming platforms.
Recommended songs:
Sayed Darwish — اهو ده اللي صار
Going to the 50s and 60s, a big folk scene with Abdo El Eskndarany, Badreya Al Sayed and many other Mawal giants emerged. They kept singing more about friends, life, love and all what’s in between.
For me Badreya El Sayed is the perfect combination between the classic Egyptian femininity and wisdom. Just listen to her songs with attention.
Recommended songs:
Badreya El Sayed — طلعت فوق السطوح
70s and 80s: Bahr Abu Greesha
The era of Bahr Abu Greisha, an ex-Navy officer with roots from El Nuba who loved music and was always expressing himself through his art.
He was in almost every single Alexandrian wedding at the time. His music is a great fusion of Nubi, Jazz, Blues, Mawal and Shaabi. You can still listen to him if you go to any shop in Alexandria with an incredibly old guy on the counter.
Recommended songs:
Bahr Abu Greisha — مقادير
Al Hob w Al Salam band:
A band formed in the late seventies by Nabil Al Baqly. It started as a 5-piece band. The band was purely Alexandrian with a focus on live concerts over the amount of Albums.
Nabil El Baqly and his band didn’t only produce very good music, but also while having changes in the band formation. They introduced to Alexandria the foundation of its new generation of musicians, Hamza Namira and Ahmed Hafez Youssef the bassist from Massar Egbari with many others. It was a real school.
Recommended songs:
Al Hob w Al Salam — بعد سنين
90s and Early 2000s: The metal wave.
Too many metal bands were formed at that time. There were too many concerts between Cairo and Alexandria. Sadly, the government made a big crackdown on the metal scene. Whether by closing down the concerts or by making media propaganda that listening to metal music is related to Satanism and Atheism.
The metal wave in Alexandria had more than 14/15 bands formed. People who just wanted to play music. Yet they faced very brutal bans.
Mid 2000s to 2011:
Some bands started to appear and emerge, like West El Balad, Soap Kills, Massar Egbari, Y-Crew, Azra2 Samawy and Salalem. Not a big crowd but a scene started to be shaped.
2011-2015: The bottle popped.
After the 2011 revolution there were various trials by different initiatives and people in the Alexandrian community to form a real alternative scene with its own venues. Bands from all over the Arab world came to perform like Mashrou Leila, Autostrad, Jadal and others.
I was part of this scene and I hosted a few concerts for Maurice Louca, Mashrou Leila, Yasmine Hamdan and Autostrad. Al Kabina was a great part of this scene, thanks to Ayman Asfour, Sameh and Essam Rock.
I can never forget that “Like Jelly” concert in 2012, or the other amazing nights we had with Ghalia Ben Ali. Al Kabina was basically a basement where you go and dance all your pain away with live music for free or for a very tiny fee.
Massar Egbari, Cairokee and Hamza Namira turned from being “underground” to being commercial and well known.
Yet the problem that started facing all concert organizers, promoters or band managers was the number of governmental institutions that you have to pay money for just to make a concert happen. The costs are much higher than the ticket revenue. So, since 2015 all the alternative venues in Alexandria started closing their doors one after another. Even the Summer Festival in Bibliotheca Alexandrina used to be 2/3 months, now it’s almost 3 weeks and with a weaker program.
Also, we have Jesuits cultural center but it’s not consistent with music concerts as they have other cultural scopes.
On the other hand the rise of Mahraganat music started with Sadat, Oka w Ortega and El Dakhlaweya. For me Mahraganat is a great fusion that came from people who wanted to get their voices out. The most prominent cities with the best Mahraganat artists are Alexandria and Giza. It is still getting more attention to this day, yet despised by many people in our society. You know who was despised by our society before? Abd El Halim Hafez, Ahmed Adaweya and many other great names. Whenever the noise is bigger the success is louder.
2015-2020: The calm before the storm.
Many artists took their own way whether by organizing tours abroad or hitting the Jackpot with an album or a hit song that made them go viral. The local alternative scene was in hibernation mode.
2022-Now: The new wave.
After Wegz, Marwan Pablo, Ziad Zaza, El Waili, Molotof and other rappers/producers became viral in the COVID-19 days. Too many events started taking place all over Egypt. Yet very few in Alexandria because the venue options are limited. The risk is extremely high for organizing a proper concert.
The alternative scene still survives through making small cozy gigs in small spaces around downtown or cultural centers. This city deserves to dance more as I went to many concerts all over the world but there’s no crowd that beats the Alexandrian crowd, they’re just very passionate about music and always engaged with the performer.
In my experience as an event planner. Sometimes artists can accept a lower fee just because they really want to experience the Alexandria crowd. I am very glad that Ward Radio is trying to bring more life to the Alexandrian alternative scene.
"So, if you look at that, the alternative music scene in Alexandria is exactly like a buoy. The sea can get very rough and high, yet the buoy will never sink, it can only disappear under the waves for some time."