Making The Connection

A new Arabic alternative music festival is set to launch on January 20, promising to showcase the best bands and singers the region has to offer.

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It’s getting late at Tamanya Terrace in Dubai Media City, but people are continuing to pour in. On stage are the Lebanese/Egyptian duo Maii + Zeid, an example of the kind of Arabic musical union the team behind the forthcoming Wasla music festival are keen to embrace: Maii Waleed, an Alexandrian singer, songwriter and guitarist; Zeid Hamdan, a Lebanese underground producer for whom little introduction is necessary. If you haven’t heard of Hamdan and of his former band Soapkills, you need to retrace your musical footsteps.