The historic Khaled and Hakim tour kicked off in Washington DC on February 3. Alexandra Walker was there, and has this review.

While many Americans were gripping the edge of their seats Sunday night watching the New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams, two champions of Arab music were driving a near-capacity crowd at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium to jump from theirs.

Both Hakim, known as the "lion of Egypt," and Khaled, considered the "king of rai," represent popular musical traditions rooted in the urban street cultures of their respective countries, Egypt and Algeria. Khaled was clearly the headliner of the evening, but both artists enjoy international profiles for using synthesizers, high production quality and other hallmarks of Western music to frame their spectacular voices.

A superstar in Egypt, Hakim has gained international recognition by leavening the traditional shaabi music he sings with electronica and techno elements (a recent album featured remixes by London dance DJ sensations, Transglobal Underground). The opener on Sunday, Hakim delivered a more straightforward performance of shaabi music (which means "of the people"), the sort played at weddings, supported by an ensemble consisting of an accordion, backup singers, flute, horns and two-sided drums to drive the beat.

In contrast to the sometimes frenetic rhythm of the songs, Hakim moved gracefully on stage, occasionally opening his arms wide and shaking his shoulders or cocking his hips, to the delighted squeals of the audience. He channeled all of his energy into his powerful and ebullient voice, belting out songs about love and the struggle for survival in urban Egypt.

An enthusiastic audience responded to Hakim's expressive performance with thunderous clapping and whipping of scarves, but it was Khaled's entrance that brought the house down and the audience to its feet until almost midnight.

Sunday night was Khaled's first visit to Washington, DC, and the primarily Arab audience welcomed him so warmly the singer pounded his heart with his fist, his face breaking into the broad smile for which he is famous. The concert was originally scheduled for September 14 of last year, and canceled after the tour's promoters decided they could not guarantee the safety of their musicians in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

Although the promoters' apprehension was probably justified, the music of both Hakim and Khaled represent a move toward moderation and political openness in countries where religious extremism and political alienation thrive. Like the American rap music to which it is often compared, shaabi and rai serve to vent frustrations that cannot be expressed elsewhere. Admittedly, sometimes this frustration takes on themes people outside the Arab world find controversial: the title of a shaabi song popular in the last two years was "I Hate Israel."

The strongest opposition to rai music (which means "opinion" in Arabic) comes from Muslim fundamentalists in Algeria who believe the music celebrates an impure lifestyle. After several of his fellow rai musicians were assassinated for singing lyrics that offended Algeria's religious fundamentalists, Khaled moved to Paris, where he has lived in self-imposed exile.

Both Hakim and Khaled speak frequently about their belief in the power of music to transcend cultural and political differences. In a 1997 interview, Khaled said: "With my music I show that there is no racism in music. You can make music with a black or a brown or a white person, it doesn't matter. [French songwriter] Jean-Jacques Goldman is a Jew, and by making a hit record together, we have demonstrated that Arabs and Jews can work together and do beautiful things together, rather than make war. The people who have protested against me doing this are living in Cro-Magnon time! I had a number one hit in Israel."

Khaled's move to Paris, portrayed as primarily political, was likely motivated by the added lure of working with musicians from other traditions, from reggae to hip-hop to jazz, and with producers able to market his music to Europeans.

Sunday's concert showcased two of songs that best exemplify the hybrid nature of Khaled's music: the rousing "Didi," worn out on turntables by DJs the world over in the mid-1990s, and the love song "Aïcha" (written by Jean-Jacques Goldman).

However, when he gave the synthesizers and horns a rest and returned to a more traditional treatment of his songs, Khaled produced the achievement of the evening (the failure was when one of his European keyboard players tried to improvise as a backup singer and began wailing). In addition to his backup band of musicians from around the globe, on this tour Khaled brings with him a Palestinian musician who plays the violin and the oud, a stringed instrument popular throughout the Arab world.

Midway through his set, Khaled sang with the spare accompaniment of the violin, the effect of his plaintive vibrato nothing less than spine-tingling. Together, the singer and the violinist performed a captivating introduction that built slowly and steadily, finally giving way to another Khaled favorite.

Word is that Khaled and Hakim's popularity extends the world over, with the exception of Britain and the United States. After Sunday's electrifying show and equally ecstatic audience response, that should be changing.

Concert review by Alexandra Walker

Khaled and Hakim perform this Friday in New York City at the Beacon Theater. Information on attending the show with Club Afropop, and on attending the artists' after party appears below.

Join Club Afropop for a special package that includes the Khaled and Hakim concert and party, and a signed copy of Khaled CD (email info@afropop.org or call 718-398-2733 for more info). If you already have tickets to the concert, come to the Crane Club at 408 Amsterdam (between 79th and 80th--five minutes walk from Beacon). Tickets to the after party for people with concert ticket stubs are $25 ($50 for others) and include a drink ticket and delicious appetizers donated by the highly rated Kabab Café/Mombar in Queens.

If you're not in the New York area, see the Concerts section of afropop.org for concert details about the Khaled and Hakim in your city. And spread the word. Afropop Worldwide wants to see packed houses all across the country!