The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

“We want to play everywhere. No band has really toured this particular region, for obvious reasons, but we want to play in as many locations as possible” says Jared, defiantly. It’s an inquisitiveness that is lent more from a probing love of music than it is from a touristic pursuit.

Getting rowdy was partly an act of defiance against a conservatism that saw El Sawy demand that the band submit lyrics beforehand – to make sure things are above board. But maybe the boffins at El Sawy had it right. The bizarre audience included families with young kids who gleefully clapped along and one particularly stone-faced 60-year-old woman who seemed mightily unimpressed.

Performances by local bands 050 and Faking It pleased the mixed crowd; the former especially, with a mix of Oriental and western blends. It’s only when Canadian-Lebanese band, Lazzy Lung, took to the stage that this became a proper gig; no pretentions, no agendas, just music. Fronted by the burly, impressively-bearded Canadian, Allan Chaaraou, the quartet’s blend of indie rock and punk lived up to every inch of hype. This is, after all, a group that was once heralded as the best band in the region by Rolling Stone Middle East. Their set was so good, dare we say it, that it was going to take something special from the Black Lips to top it.

Probably the most danceable brand of rock around right now, Cole, Jared, Ian and Joe’s love of 60s music has moulded their sound into a effortlessly fluid mélange of garage rock and doo-wop. Maybe it was the jetlag, maybe it was a wariness of offending, or maybe it was the fact that they were spending most of the day being followed around by a documentary crew; but the performance was restrained, although glimpses of madness and spontaneity delivered emphatically to a zealous few.

But it’s the quirks of Cairo that seemed to entertain them most; Cole insists that the owner of the horrid tongue on Egyptian cigarette packets is his doppelganger and they were blown away by Cairo vendors’ commitment to home delivery. Take a bow, Drinkie’s.

It isn’t exactly clear what, if any, upshot this tour will yield. Sadly, it won’t do anything for the cause of rock and indie music in Cairo. And it probably won’t gain the Black Lips many new fans in the region, nor will it encourage more acts to grace Cairo’s dilapidated stages. With no agenda or crusade on the part of the Black Lips, let’s just take this as one of those unexplainable life spectacles, and dearly appreciate it.