On a weekend away from Dammam with Katie, Mike, and Oliver (who I got to meet for the first time) to Bahrain, I obviously wasn't ready to go to bed at 9pm like the others, so I went back downstairs to check out the bars in our hotel, of which there were three. After unsuccessful experiences at the first two, which were both kind of like PG-rated strip clubs that were intent on price gouging me, I assume because I’m white, the last place worked out a bit better.
It was a small lounge with a stage. It was very smoky from cigarettes and shisha with a single musician performing. I was told the performer was a Saudi by the name of Hussain Hussain. He was singing, playing a sitar like instrument, and had a keyboard that he was using for various loops. I was the only white person in attendance among a mostly Arab crowd. It was mostly men, though a handful of women were also in attendance, accompanied by their husbands. Even though abayas are not required in Bahrain, all of the women that happened to be there were wearing them, though one had her hair uncovered, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Several of the women even had their faces covered. One woman with her face covered was sitting next to her husband, in a thobe and sipping a beer –quite the double standard. Men in the audience would sometimes get up and dance, alone or in pairs, either at their seat or in a little open area in front of the stage. The music was pretty typical Arab traditional pop music, enjoyable enough to hold my attention. I stayed for perhaps 50 minutes or so. I might have stayed longer, but it was annoyingly and unnecessarily loud. Unfortunately, that noise also carried up two floors to our hotel room as well. Even only briefly, I was glad to be able to see some semblance of live music in the Middle East though.
It was a small lounge with a stage. It was very smoky from cigarettes and shisha with a single musician performing. I was told the performer was a Saudi by the name of Hussain Hussain. He was singing, playing a sitar like instrument, and had a keyboard that he was using for various loops. I was the only white person in attendance among a mostly Arab crowd. It was mostly men, though a handful of women were also in attendance, accompanied by their husbands. Even though abayas are not required in Bahrain, all of the women that happened to be there were wearing them, though one had her hair uncovered, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Several of the women even had their faces covered. One woman with her face covered was sitting next to her husband, in a thobe and sipping a beer –quite the double standard. Men in the audience would sometimes get up and dance, alone or in pairs, either at their seat or in a little open area in front of the stage. The music was pretty typical Arab traditional pop music, enjoyable enough to hold my attention. I stayed for perhaps 50 minutes or so. I might have stayed longer, but it was annoyingly and unnecessarily loud. Unfortunately, that noise also carried up two floors to our hotel room as well. Even only briefly, I was glad to be able to see some semblance of live music in the Middle East though.
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