Omar Souleyman

Lawrence, our friend who we were staying with works at Issue, which for us Mainers is somewhere around the equivalent of the Space Gallery. Omar Souleyman was preforming- Syria's #1 pop musician. The band opening was called Talibam, not Taliban, Lauryn (Lawrence's girlfriend) said they had an interesting time explaining the name to Omar, who after some confusion eventually found it to be entertaining.

It was a great space, it was sort of the parking lot behind Issue but it was inclosed. When Omar got on stage it was so exciting. Here is actual footage from this concert, it was taken about 10 feet away to our right.

The man sitting next to us explained that Omar likes to support the arts. He has many poets that whisper lines into his ear moments before he sings them. He hand picks poets based on where he is and what he feels like performing that night.

During our walk on the way home the rear bumper fell almost completely off a small Saab car after taking a right turn. The car pulled over and a woman got out and put the bumper back on. It fell off immediately and she put it on again with more force, it seemed to hold, then she drove off.