As a starter, and even I had like 7 or 8 invitations, we ended up just three in there, unfortunately the majority of my friends couldn’t make it, I would say they missed it, because aside from what happened before it started, it was worth it, I did enjoyed it.
I arrived there, it was almost 6:30 pm, I took a cab directly from work, I didn’t want to show up late, the invitation said its going to start at 7:30 pm and that entry isn’t guaranteed after the concert starts, to be in the safe side I rathered being early than late and fortunately I was.
I didn’t expect the security is going be this tight, people should show their invitations on the gate, which is like 300 meters or more away from the theatre itself, once you’re inside you’ll walk to the theatre and then will be directed to the entrance gates depending on the colors of the invitations, I found out that there was classes, some VIPs would set closer to the musicians and enters from different gates, those had their invitations delivered to them, who cares anyhow!, at the end it’s the music not the people, well, more or less at least.
The gate I was supposed check in through was C, the green color, once there, few people where arriving, it was smooth to get inside, though u had to walk to a security guy who would make sure you have nothing dangerous or illegal before you enter, another guy would take the ticket, part of it, and once you’re inside, another guy would tear the invitation to make sure you’re not using it again to let someone else inside.
The C people had to set on the upper seats, a bit far from the musicians but still, I managed to get a good view, everything was visible, it was good, this is the blessing about this kind of theatre, there’s no good or bad seat, there’s only near or far seats which doesn’t matter much, though it would be nicer to have but not a must to.
So far, everything was ok, its almost 7:00 and we’re waiting for 7:30 pm concert, my friend rang me, he arrived, I just had to walk out to hand him the invitation so that he can enter, since most of my friends didn’t show up I had a spare for me as well if there was a problem to get back inside, which was what I expected.
I had to move against the current as they say, at the time everyone else was coming in and I was going out, so you can imagine how it was like, the entrance gate and the exit gate are the same gate actually.
Just to make sure and examine their process of handling a case where someone who’s already inside, his ticket is already torn, have yet a new one and need to go out give it to his friend to let him in, would they allow him back in?! I thought to ask about it
That what had happened in steps:
- I explained the case to guy number one, who had Zade slogan on his shirt, those guys are there to help people out, I assumed.
- Guy number one told me to ask a guy number two, who also had a Zade Slogan on his shirt but is closer to the gate.
- Guy number two said its ok, but I have to tell the security at the door.
- I told the security lady first, she said I have to have a new invitation, I told her to just look at me, I’m here, I’m inside, this is my ticket, I’m only asking you to let me in when I’m back, I’m delivering a ticket to my friend, she didn’t look in control of such a stupid situation, so at the end she told me to talk to the security guy number two, the same guy who took part of the invitation the first time.
- The security guy refused, he doubted he can recognize me when I’m back among the thousands that comes through that door, I thought this was a fair point, so I just told him that when a guy comes to you, tell you I’m the one who asked you to remember him, then its going to be me and your going to let him in, he smiled and told me “ twakal 3ala allah”
- I’m at the gate now, calling my friend to hand him the invitation, just when I was giving it to him, the security noticed me, he ran and took my hand and walked me away, he was frowning, mad for some reason, he said its not allowed to do that, I had to explain again the case, “this my friend I arrived earlier, if I knew this is going to be the case I would have waited outside”. But of course He didn’t listen, he sort of said “ go inside”
- I didn’t listen of course, I got the invitation, and my friend has every right to come inside, so I moved on to another guy of those who wears Zade slogan again, anyway, I explained the case, I assumed these guys should be able to help, it was worse, he was afraid to make a stupid decision like that, just to let me give the invitation to my friend who’s standing 2 meters away from me, he couldn’t make it, at the end my friend came closer, it was almost like stealing the right moment when no one is looking and I just handed it over, the whole thing was awkward, but funny as well.
- My friend and I are back inside walking to gate C, lots of people were getting in from that tiny entrance, seeing that I rathered to use one of my new spare tickets instead of having to explain myself over again to the security. After fighting our way through we’re inside, and seated, finally.
The theatre is occupied with people now, a lot more that what was 30 minutes ago, and people are still coming, and they kept coming till the security stopped letting anyone inside.
Its now 7:30 pm, no sign that the concert its going to start soon, 7:45, 8:00, 8:10, Rana Sultan pops out and takes the microphone, she talks a bit about the concert, and about Zade Dirani, she asks everyone to keep smiling through out the concert since its going to be taped and distributed world wide, and the least is for people to see smiley Jordanian faces, It was sort of funny because what she meant that Jordanians are Kishreen by nature, and it was some sort of a favor to smile for the concert, it was a good laugh, however she explained that the concert is starting at 8:30 and apologized for the delay without giving any reasons for it.
I started looking around, it was obvious that the theatre was well occupied with cameras. lights and speakers, every where, as if it was actually designed to be setting like that, I’ve heard that those equipments is of about 30 tons and where shipped via a private commercial plane
The concert started at 8:40 pm, Dirani walked in with a black suit and red t-shirt, different I would say but nice, they played Zeina directly, once finished everyone clapped, I would say clapped with passion, the piece played was brilliant, I think one of the best he played during the concert, the voice quality was excellent. A word to say, it was indeed a concert that people worked hard to pull out like that.
Dirani’s continued playing his brilliant pieces one after another, at one point, several brilliant artist joined in solely which added another taste to the concert, they were really good musicians, they played like I never heard or see anyone has played with this greatness before, and at the end of each piece people had no other choice but to clap genuinely.
Dirani explained before starting every new piece the story behind it, and I thought it was thoughtful to do that, because it gets you in the mood, and you would at some point live the idea, still its normal that one would favor one piece over the other, but the overall ranking I would say it was excellent.
Music is an international language, and the message of peace and love was delivered as it was intended too, some people may doubt that, their reference would be the words and the language used, the instruments as well, how can we deliver this message playing the music of the west, its better to deliver it using our tones and our language, I don’t really support this, it could make sense to some extent, but for me the message was delivered through the theme itself, the music, the composition and the overall harmony in the pieces played, this was the whole idea.
The Concert came to an end at around 10:00 pm, thanks were given to everyone, and Zade and the orchestra left the stage, while so, fireworks took the scene, there were lots of them, shining over the old roman theatre and dispatched to the sky from Jabal Elqal3a, you would feel they are very close, was scary and beautiful at the same time, I would assume it added a nice closure however I also think it gave the musicians the chance to leave before the audience start to, which was clever somehow.
I would sure be looking forward to see the DVD of the concert, I want to listen again to those master pieces and live the event once more.
In the end, the concert was great, no doubt about that, however the event management needs attention, I’ve heard later that a lot of people couldn’t not come inside even with their VIP invitations, rumors said, invitation distributed where a lot more that what could the theatre absorb, I also heard there was a problem in the valet parking, some people waited for hours before they got back their cars, hope lessons are learned from this for later major events.
God bless
