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Cairo Weekend Guide: 4 the Love of House, Lots of Live Music & More

Cairo Weekend Guide: 4 the Love of House, Lots of Live Music & More
written by
Cairo 360

Hello
Cairo!

Welcome to
the first Cairo 360 weekend guide of 2013. On this, the most momentous of occasions,
we implore Cairenes to embrace the New Year and prematurely celebrate the many blessings
that we obviously deserve over the next twelve months.

Sickly
optimism aside, we have a somewhat low-key weekend ahead of us. The city might
still be dormant following an eventful New Year’s Eve, but there is still plenty
to partake in.

The folk at
Cairo Jazz Club kick the weekend off with a Thursday night double header of
live music; worldly musician and singer, Sheila Scribner gets things going before
Deja’vu’s funk-ridden soul stylings carry CJC into the early hours of the
morning.

More live
music comes courtesy of local favourites, Salalem, who perform live at their
second home, After Eight. Downtown neighbours, Almaz, are claiming to have
another surprise performance this weekend. We’d put our money on it being a belly
dancer.

Elsewhere,
Cairo Opera House hosts a rare performance by the Cairo Opera Company, whose members
are delivering not one, but two performances in one night. Down the hallway,
the Abdel Halim Nowera Ensemble continues to champion classical Arabic music
with an evening of oldies.

Friday also
sees Cairo Opera House host more indigenous arts, as veteran musician and
composer, Sobhi Bidair, is joined on stage by the famous Nayer Nagui, as well
as a host of his former students and musician friends in this orgy of live
music.

Across town
at El Gomhouria Theatre, the Arab Heritage Music Ensemble takes to the stage
for their first performance of the New Year, while the Cadillacs perform at
Zamalek joint, Jazz Mate.

On Cairo’s
ever flourishing bar scene, the Fairmont Nile City’s O Bar welcomes Nile FM’s
DJ Feedo for R&B Night, while Cairo Jazz Club’s 4 the Love of House returns for 2013, with DJ Amr
Hosny
and DJ Mayounah stepping behind the decks for a night of unadulterated,
not-at-all-repetitive house music.

Elsewhere,
Sufi screens 2004 Spanish film, The Sea
Inside
, in which the handsome, pan-faced Javier Bardem plays a man fighting for euthanasia and the right to die. Meanwhile, Cairo’s
shoppers will be interested to hear that Le Pacha 1901 in Zamalek is hosting
the Passionista Bazaar, where everything from fashion to home accessories is on
show.

Sufi is hosting weekend activities again on Saturday; this time, Sonia Hassan will be
leading a Sufi Healing Meditation session which incorporates breathing
techniques and chanting. Elsewhere, Basheer brings his unique,
Nubian-influenced, Oriental music to Cairo Jazz Club, while Broadway comes to Cairo,
as the Riff Band take centre-stage at O Bar.

Meanwhile, Amr
7a7a, Figo, Sadat Rap and Alaa Fifty – aka shaabi rap-group, No Comment – are live
at After Eight. Cairo Opera House hosts more entertainment in the form of the
Cairo Symphony Orchestra, who return for their weekly performance, while
opera-lovers can enjoy the full glory of the Met in New York, with a live
screening of Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens.

On another note, First Mall in Giza will be transformed into
a fashion runway, as the El Belouza Fashion Show delivers a peek into what’s ‘in’
this winter.

The first new art exhibition of the year comes in the form
of Inji Efflatoun’s ‘A Life in Struggle’. Taking place Safar Khan Art Gallery
in Zamalek, Efflatoun’s body of work, which takes inspirtation from the social
and political concerns, cements her reputation as one of the most prominent
female artists in Egypt.

Speaking of Efflatoun, the artists work can also be found at
Picasso Gallery’s group exhibition, ‘3 Of Pioneers’, where artists, Tahia Halim
and Gazbia Sirry, also exhibit their work.

This is only a few of the events taking place in the city
this weekend. Head over to the Cairo 360 events calendar for more. Have a
delightful weekend, Cairo.

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