Review: Cheb Khaled, Fares Karam and Saad Lamjarad shine at the F1 after race concerts and Beats on The Beach

Algerian rai singer Cheb Khaled, Lebanese crooner Fares Karam and Filipino rocker Bamboo were some of the eclectic sounds on offer as part of Abu Dhabi's F1 celebrations.

Saad Lamjarred thrilled the Corniche fans. Courtesy of Flash Entertainment

The year was shaping up to be a rather disappointing one for UAE fans of Cheb Khaled and Fares Karam.

Both artists came to the UAE earlier this year to perform club spots; for Karam it was in May at Legends in the Sheraton Abu Dhabi, while Khaled appeared at Dubai’s Cavalli club back in March. Both gigs took place in the wee hours of the morning and while the singers were adept on the small makeshift stage, the crowd — and I suspect the artists themselves — knew their material is best appreciated in a large setting. Those who kept hope for a big gig were rewarded on Thursday with the duo appearing at the Du Arena as part of the first of four after-race concerts. Both backed by a live band, Fares and Karam delivered separate sets that pleased the faithful.

Karam turns Du Arena into a wedding hall

In a heavily populated field, the 42-year-old Karam has impressively maintained his stature as the leading purveyor of Dabka-inspired Lebanese pop.

Dressed in a tight white shirt and jeans, Karam's composition are as muscular as his frame. Driven by the thunderous sounds of his near half a dozen percussionists, the crowd were immediately on their feet with thumping renditions of Elli Biyakatheb A'Martou and Kitab Hiyati. Off-course the big hits were also on supply; by the time the insanely catchy Dakhleelo and Tanoura arrived, the venue resembled a packed wedding hall.

Cheb Khaled spreads the love

Khaled kept up the energy but on a different tip. Where Karam songs are all about the physical (a 10-minute dabka dance certainly raises the heart rate), Khaled anthems are all emotional affairs. The 55-year-old’s tracks are tailor-made for putting your arms around your loved ones and singing along to choruses that are mostly declarations of love, joy and, of course, to dance.

Backed by a more western-influenced band, — with keyboards, guitars, bass and drums - Khaled demonstrated why he so readily crossed over to become a leading name in world music.

Sahra took on a stronger funk flavour than on the record, its soaring strings replaced with jutting keyboards. Hiya Hiya is simply ecstatic — its blend of modern dance sounds with the bluesy notes of Rai shows the term 'fusion' is not necessarily an ugly word, while C'est la vie remains Khaled's career high point. While most like to refer to his seminal tracks Aisha and Diddi — both delivered that night with aplomb — as Khaled's signature tunes, C'est la vie basically epitomises the man's approach to his art. It's a song that celebrates love and life, and when delivered with Khaled's megawatt smile, you can't help but be swept along.

Earlier that night, Emirati starlet Aryam used the Du Arena stage to remind audiences she was still active. The singer has been quiet of late with her last album being 2011's Vitamin Al Gharam. With nine albums released thus far, Aryam managed to put together an engaging set to start the evening. Crowd favourites included the string laden Youm Shoufti and the up-tempo Khaleeji pop of Tiz'al.

The after-race concerts continue with Enrique Eglesias on Thursday, followed by Florence and The Machine and Blur on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Meanwhile on the beach

The eclectic tunes were not only limited to Yas Island.

The Lagoon Beach at Abu Dhabi’s Corniche was also home to a variety of sounds courtesy of the free Beats of The Beach festival, which runs nightly until Saturday. When we turned up, the partygoers at Lagoon Beach were jumping to the urban afro-beat sounds of S.O.S (Secret Over Supremacy), the winners of the inaugural Yasalam Emerging Talent Competition.

Moroccan pop sensation Saad Lamjarad was inarguably the star of the night. The 30,000-plus crowd became a sea of camera phones when the singer delivered the hit single LM3ALLEM — which earned the Guinness World Record status after garnering 100 million views on YouTube within three months of release.

While Lamjarad’s music has an R&B pulse, he remained loyal to his Moroccan roots- there was a distinctly French and oriental flavours to his tunes.

With his cartoon monster hat and that radiant smile — his stage sidekick was also demonstrating some bizarrely sporadic and goofy dance moves - Lamjarad refreshingly didn’t take himself too seriously. One track included in his set was Get Low, which many in the crowd might have recognised from the party scene in the film Furious 7, set at Jumeirah at Etihad Towers — the hotel was aptly lit up behind the stage.

Following on from Lamjarad was Swedish pop artist Tove Lo, who belted out lively grunge-influenced dance numbers while sporting a notably modest grey outfit, and what appeared to be a white nose ring.

Filipinos in the crowd had been waiting patiently all evening for the next act, the Kabayan "Prince of Rock", Bamboo. The former lead singer of Rivermaya, who is now a judge on TV talent show The Voice of the Philippines, rocked the beach with a steady flow of older favourites as well as hits from his new album Bless This Mess. Despite being a regular visitor to our shows, Bamboo's energetic reception shows he is nowhere near to outstaying his welcome. Beats on The Beach continues with Friday and Saturday nights hosting respective performances by American rapper J Cole and UK dance act Faithless.

For details on the after-race concerts and Beats on The Beach go to www.yasalam.ae.