Concert = Ali Campbell in Sofia

The coldest night of the year (-16 degrees Celsius) couldn't stop Jodie and me from going out, but the ice-covered plaza in front of the NDK Concert Hall almost stopped us. Nonetheless, we took our seats in the very comfortable chairs in row 12 to see the performance of Ali Campbell, formerly the lead singer of UB40.

A word about Ali Campbell. Until a year or so ago, he was UB40. But apparently there was a management dispute, and Ali left the band (along with at least one other band member), and decided to go solo. He recorded albums on his own, set up his own band, and began to tour. And last night he came to Sofia. Actually, in Bulgaria his concerts were advertised as "Ali Campbell's UB40", but his new band is actually called the Dep Band.

We went to the concert because of the songs we knew from UB40. Ali and his band performed many songs from his recent album, "Flying High", including "Whatcha Gonna Do," "She's a Lady," and "Nothing Ever Changes."

But the songs we really liked, and which brought the Bulgarian audience to its feet, were the classics from Ali's UB40 days. "Only Fools Rush In," "Kingston Town" and the show-ending "Red, Red Wine."

The concert was short (just over an hour), and Ali had this habit of leaving the stage and turning his back to the audience. Overall we would have enjoyed it more if we had known more of the music.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The “Pogacha”

Image
Pogacha is a traditional, round bread which is used in many Bulgarian ceremonies and celebrations. This was also the name for the celebration that we were invited to by one of my colleagues, Luca, and his wife Iva, in honor of the birth of their son, Nicola. Although the customs surrounding the birth of a baby had their origins many centuries ago, and most of them have not survived, there are still some customs which have made it to modern times and are generally followed by all women after giving birth. When a baby is born, the baby is not taken out of the house for a period of 40 days. During this time, only close family members are allowed to visit and to see the baby. In ancient times, this was due to the fact that a woman was considered “unclean” and as a result, she and her baby were at great risk from evil spirits. Today, it is more of a feeling of protecting the baby from germs and keeping him safe. At the end of the 40 days, there is a celebration, which only the women family
Read more

Top 15 Favorite Bulgarian Places

Image
At a distance of one month, it's sometimes hard to believe that we spent two wonderful years living in Bulgaria. We look back with fond memories at the many places we visited, the many people we met, and the many things we learned about Bulgaria, its culture and history. This started as a Top Ten list, but there were too many places to list, so it became a Top 15 list, and still, some of the colorful destinations we visited are not included. The list is presented in alphabetical order. Balchik . On the Black Sea coast, this town was the summer home of Queen Marie of Romania . We enjoyed walking around the botanical gardens, seeing the old style houses and the simple palace that captured the heart of the Romanian queen. Belogradchik . Belogradchik is a town in northwestern Bulgaria and also the name of a fortress and nature reserve of bizarrely shaped sandstone, limestone and other rock formations. The Belogradchik Rocks were Bulgaria's candidate in the campaign for N
Read more

The Chinese Market

Image
On Sunday we went with our friends Sima and Shlomo to the northern neighborhoods of Sofia to an outdoor shopping bazaar known as the Chinese Market. Stokov Bazaar, or Ilientsi, is a huge area of stalls selling everything from kitchen appliances, toys, clothing, and car parts, and at very cheap prices. Many of the shopkeepers were indeed Chinese, and it was interesting to see so many Orientals in one place, speaking Bulgarian. We managed to buy a few things we needed but it was hard to fully enjoy the experience as it was freezing cold. Either the cold, or the after-Christmas mood kept the crowds away, because we heard that the bazaar attracts many Sofia shoppers.
Read more