We’re not here to show you how we sing the Beatles, we’re here because of the Beatles, said Hany Adel on Wednesday evening at the first of a series of film and music nights he is hosting at Zamalek’s Sawy Culture Wheel.
The Wust El Balad frontman selected four music-themed films which he will introduce each Wednesday in November together with a mini-concert.
Tonight’s film, the BBC documentary “The Unseen Beatles, was a poignant glimpse of the Beatles at the height of their fame. The film revealed that the band’s supposedly triumphant invasion of America was the beginning of the end. The boyish enthusiasm of their first US tour had almost entirely dissipated by the time of their final tour in 1966, a result of the pressure of fame, an incredibly-packed international touring schedule and internal rifts within the band.
The film’s main revelation was how amateurish the organization of the North American tour was; security at a venue in Toronto was so lax that 7,000 fans were able to rush the stage – fortunately after the Beatles had already made a rapid exit. The Fab Four risked electrocution during a gig in another outside venue whose owner had neglected to cover the stage with a roof; the torrential rain beating down on the electrical equipment turned the stage into a death trap.
“The secret of the Beatles is that their music is based on a simplicity anyone can hardly recreate, commented Hazem Wafy, a script-writer who also pens tunes for Wust El Balad, and who gave the audience a potted history of the Beatles.
Hany Adel and Cairokee guitarist Sherif Hawary proved the truth of this statement during their – at times – slightly fussy interpretations of Beatles classics such as “Hey Jude, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away and “Lady Madonna. The duo confirmed that simplicity is indeed best with a beautiful and straight-forward rendition of Blackbird.
Speaking after the film, Adel told Daily News Egypt the objective behind the Wednesday film and music series. “I chose these films because I like the music they present and want to introduce Wust El Balad fans to different styles of music from all over the world.
Only recently introduced to the Beatles, Adel says that he is not in either camp of the Lennon-McCartney contest but told Daily News Egypt, “I don’t like what Lennon said about the Beatles after they broke up. The singer rejected the notion of a similar scenario happening within his own band, “because before anything else, we are friends.
Hany Adel will be introducing three other films this month, the “Buena Vista Social Club, “Ben Harper: Pleasure and Pain and “Vengo. Events begin at 9 pm.
