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Noa's concert in Massada, Israel. |
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| They told us that they were planning to go see Achinoam Nini the next day, she was going to play from 3AM till dawn at Masada. Six of us were going to head down to Masada for the concert. I think all the women were cantorial students. We were going to go down in two cars, and we planned to get together at around 11 pm, though the concert wouldn't start till 3. We reached Masada at 2:30, only problem was that the concert was at the theater on the west side of Masada, and we were on the east side. There is no road around Masada - we knew this before we got there. The only way to get around is a loop through Arad through the mountains. It's 70 km, and it takes about an hour. Anyway, we got to the west side of Masada at about 3:30 - so we missed the first bit of the concert. The grandstand sat about 5-10k people, it was pretty full, we got seats way up to in the back, about 50 yards from the stage. The sound was fine, and the atmosphere was incredible. Masada was right behind the stage, the western face, with the Roman ramp. Behind Masada, and to the left, was the Dead Sea, then the Jordan hills, and, of course, the dawn. Surrounding us were the desert hills. Achinoam Nini was there with Gil Dor and a full band of 4 guys, she also had two women friends with whom she sang Yemenite songs. It was quite dark, of course, and windy, and pretty cool, 65 or 70. The crowd was largely young people, dyed hair and pierced as much as an American concert crowd would be, relaxed, in good spirits. It was certainly a special event, a special place, a great artist, the middle of the night with a rarefied mood. It wouldn't be the same at 8 pm with the Israel Philharmonic, there was a special groove, an alignment of time, space, aesthetic, and spirit. The actual concert was similar to the one back in Boston in March, but that wasn't the point. This wasn't the Keefe Tech HS auditorium and this wasn't a fundraiser for a shul in suburban MA. It was awesome, though there were a few small faults. For some reason, they pointed a lot of bright lights at the crowd from the back of the stage. It being so dark outside, this was tough on the eyes. Also, they over-used the lights, they would have been better served to take more advantage of the darkness, the surroundings, and the impending sunrise. Sadly, she only played until it started getting light, until about 5:30-5:45. The dawn was hazy, but still spectacular, the pastel colors of the desert hills, purple, red and tan, Masada and the sea. The sun finally rose after the concert was done, over the Jordan hills, at around six, an orange ball in the haze. As she was playing her final songs, thousands of people streamed up the Roman ramp to see the dawn from the top, and, perhaps, to avoid the 12-shekel fee that would be collected when we ascended after six and the cashier started working at the entrance. It was probably true that the concert ended early so that Masada could deal with the early morning tourist crowd - lots of youth groups and tourist groups like to get to Masada at dawn. |
