Meir Banai was an exciting person in his life.
Not in the sense in which the word “next star” judges say to every second contestant on the show but in the true sense of the word: a man who poured all his soul and pain into the wonderful songs he wrote.
So it was only fitting that the tribute show to this special artist, who passed away too early in January 2017, would be full of emotion.
And so it was. Nearly ten thousand people arrived at Zappa Live Park in Rishon LeZion last night (Tuesday) and went through hardships and anguish on their way (including unbearable traffic jams, significant delays at the beginning of the show and long queues at the entrance to the park) to see senior Israeli artists take the stage and perform The songs of Meir Banai.
There was Assaf Amdursky who opened the evening with an uncharacteristic vocal performance of the song "You are one and only".
There were Berry Sakharof and Aviv Geffen who did a joint performance of "Vubinim".
There was Hanan Ben-Ari who moved to tears with a performance of "Short Love" ("Without pain, without tears, here are our separate ways"), the Jews with their usual performance of "With You in the World", Hatikva 6 who performed a refreshing and excellent reggae performance for "Beshem Love ", and there were Micha Sheetrit, Arkady Duchin, Avraham Tal, Marina Maximilian, Shuli Rand, Mosh Ben Ari, Amir Dadon, Dudu Tessa and of course members of the extended Banai family, including Elisha, Ehud, Eviatar, and Meir's son, Noam - who also Initiated and produced this entire show together with his sister Noga and Noam Feingold.
In between, excerpts from old interviews by Meir Banai and even an excerpt from Avi Nesher's 1985 film "Vouchers" were screened on the screen, where Banai performed "Shiro Shefesh" for the first time.
Ten thousand people came to Rishon LeZion, Shlomi Pinto
One of the surprises of the evening was that Meir's two great hits, "Gate of Mercy" and "Rain", were entrusted to artists who were not particularly close to him in his life.
Mosh Ben Ari sang "Gate of Mercy" and Amir Dadon made a great performance from life to "rain", accompanied by a distortion of an electric guitar.
For some reason I expected these two songs to be entrusted to the hands of brother Eviatar or cousin Ehud, but Eviatar chose to perform two other songs.
He performed "Other Dreams" and showed the world that he definitely knows how to submit rhythmic songs and move on stage and not just sit at the piano or hold a guitar in hand (is that right for you, Eviatar, maybe you should try that?), Then closed the evening with a masterful rendition of "Song of Rubbed "together with his uncle Tessa - a song that put the whole audience on their feet.
Four and a half years after his death, Meir Banai was honored by kings reserved only for truly great artists.
And he certainly was.
Ehud Banai and Meir's son, Noam Banai, in a joint song, Shlomi Pinto
