The man is truly a pioneer. He and his troupe of musicians, including his two sons, are talented artists and accomplished musicians. No doubt about it: Marcel Khalifeh must be one of the greatest Arab musicians today.

I am not into Arabic music at all actually. But I have attended most of Khlifeh’s concerts in Jordan over the last decade and a half. I just came back from the one held in Amman’s Arena hall (Saturday, March 26, 2005). These concerts are a phenomenon. In more than one respect I have to add!

Actually I am writing this because I am now totally fed up with a large part of Khalifeh’s audience. On the other hand, it is precisely because he is able to attract the people that he attracts, his musical project is very interesting.

What’s the secret here? Well. It’s the mixture of Khalifeh’s art, performance and politics. Write that last word with a capital P please!

The concerts draw an amazingly diverse crowd. Young and old. Upper middle class and lower middle class. Moderately religious as well as cool lefties. A nice ‘democratic’ mix of Jordanian society. And even though Khalifeh has the image of ‘Mr. Revolution’ his concert was patronized by a Jordanian government minister.

The Palestinian issue is a main ingredient in Khalifeh’s work. That’s why I am sure that some people treat attending his concerts almost as a religious or national obligation. It’s always that time of the year when one has to go to see Marcel sing about Palestine, the Revolution, Borders, lost Homeland/Mother/Ritta. For a few hours we forget our humiliating reality, the peace ‘process’ and Arab failure, feel revolutionary and good about ourselves.

Obviously, this aspect of the concerts draws huge crowds. And Khalifeh is a sincere believer in the ‘Artist’s Role’ in society and the ‘struggle’. He just has to pronounce the word ‘Palestine’ to send the crowd into a frenzy of patriotic euphoria. His Amman concerts always attract the so-called ‘48 Arabs’: Arabs living inside Israel.

There is always, in the cheaper back rows of a Marcel Khalifeh concert, a hardcore Palestinian Left contingent who see the whole thing as a chance to have a mini demonstration. It’s one of the last bastions of the Palestinian Left, who, over the past two decades, have been totally overrun by the rising popularity of Palestinian Islamists like Hamas.

With all this political content, is there room for any real art in Khalifeh’s performance. Amazingly, the answer is yes. I suspect that the man is on a ‘teaching’ mission. His politics draw the huge crowds, many of whom lack any real capacity for musical appreciation (besides rhythmic clapping and chanting that is). But he, Marcel the teacher, is in control. He tells the audience when to be quite . “This song needs your beautiful silence please.” And the crowd listens to him and shuts up. He then gives them the chance to erupt again when he performs one of his many ‘hits’, complete with sing-alongs.

But the problem for me, and I think many others, is that it is almost impossible to fully enjoy the musical mastery of Khalifeh with such an out-of-control audience. Somking, mobile phones ringing, talking, moving in and out of the hall to get a sandwich.. All of this is just too common in Khalifeh’s concerts.

My wife and I have developed a theory: In Marcel Khalifeh concerts the chance that you will be flanked by some really annoying guys (it’s almost always guys) is 100%. Today, the stream of distractions did not stop for one minute and included people trampling like elephants up and down the wooden floor of the Arena to go and get a soft drink. To them, they’re just here for their Palestine Fix and to hell with anyone who’s there to also appreciate the art.

When, a decade ago, Khalifeh gave an instrumental-only performance in Amman, a large part of his core audience was really pissed off. How dare he?? Where is “Sarkhatu Thaer” (The Cry of the Revolutionary) and “Ya Bahrieh, Hela Hela”?

The ‘Committed Artist’, ‘The Teacher’ is, on one hand, doing an amazing job of exposing a mainstream audience to what can really be considered experimental Arabic music (of course blended with a huge traditionalist component, that makes the whole thing palatable for the ‘average Arab man on the street’). Who else can have a chain-smoking, over-macho guy sit through long passages of jazzy piano improvisation?

But on the other hand, even the great Marcel is helpless in the face of an Arab audience that has still 10,000 miles to go before it learns how to behave in a musical concert.

One side note about the organization: It was a mess. No clear signage.. Some youngsters outside trying to con people into paying for parking (although it was free). No clear indication where different class ticket holders are supposed to go.

Then, inside the hall, the biggest sponsor was Gitannes cigarettes. How healthy! (ok so they’re French cigarettes, which are ok for revolutionaries!). A big screen was showing projected cigarette ads and after that.. hold your breath.. a totally meaning sequence of commercial photography including motorbikes, racing cars, glasses of champagne, flowers!! This was totally crazy. Then, when the show started (after a long boring speech by a woman from the organizing party) the screen went off! And I was hoping they will use it to project some video close ups for us sitting in the back!

To sum up: the art still shone through. Despite the politics? Precisely because of the politics? That’s his magic. But the audience? Mr Khalifeh: please tell them not to smoke next time.. that, at least, would be progress on that front.