From the moment Shimon Buskila stepped on stage, it was impossible to stop being excited

The great musician celebrated 20 years of creativity last night at the Rishon LeZion Festival with a dream team of guests - Shlomo Artzi, Idan Reichel, Shiri Maimon, Kobi Apello and Marina Maximilian.

Buskila presented an exciting show where hit followed hit.

The audience, of whom this special event fell, could only enjoy and shed a tear

Assaf Nevo

14/10/2022

Friday, October 14, 2022, 09:26

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share by email

• Share in general

• Comments

  Comments

Buskila and Maimon (Photo: Yehats)

Israeli music is a fascinating mosaic of colors and shades, and in this mosaic there are some spectacular squares that are registered in the name of Shimon Buskila, one of the artists who managed to blend cultures in their songs with a long-term effort.

His show last night, as part of the Rishon Lezion festival for the city's 140th anniversary celebrations, was therefore a fascinating journey between different flavors and spices, in what is commonly called Israeli middle-of-the-road music.

Love and soul songs, rock'n'roll ballads and emotion, and of course Moroccan and North African music, a quiet part, a jumping gun, in which Buskila is one of the prominent forerunners in the local mainstream.

And this should not be taken lightly.

Buskila, along with other greats such as Haim Oliel and the band "Shfatim", Kobi Oz and "Tipx" and the band "Ethnics", managed to make the Moroccan and North African part of the legitimate Israeli soundtrack.

It was difficult, it took three decades, they fought in the name of this music with cultural racism, with institutional discrimination, but they managed to penetrate hearts and knock down the walls.

And today, thanks to them, the most successful artists in Israel will no longer hesitate whether to use a North African or Moroccan tune in their next hit.

Shimon Buskila (Photo: Shay Franco)

Shimon Buskila also belongs to the group of beloved and respected artists whose songs they created for others (along with writers like Yossi Gisfan) were no less successful (and sometimes even more so) than their own songs.

The man who composed state hits such as "I was in heaven" by Sarit Haddad and "To the end of the world" by Haim Moshe and Yoav Yitzchak, classics by others such as "Shir Tikva" by Miri Mesika, "Tagidi" by Lior Narkis and "Kema Ahava" by Kobi Peretz, and successfully teamed up with Shlomo Artzi in "Alesh" and with Idan Raichel in "Minhar Li Meshiti" ("From the day you left", "Ya Mama").

In this way, he does not fall, for example, from the late Zbika Peak.

He adopted the same songs back more than a decade ago, when he staged the successful joint show with Shiri Maimon.

Now they are his again.

Buskila came to last night's show equipped with a dream team of guests, the galacticos of what the local mainstream has to offer: Shlomo Artzi, Idan Reichel, Shiri Maimon, Kobi Apello and Marina Maximilian.

With a hospital chain like this you can't miss it.

With their help, and in front of about five thousand people who completely filled the two lower levels of the Live Park in Rishon Lezion, Buskila presented a show that was almost entirely playlist hits, not to mention first places on the charts.

The audience, which this special event was a part of, had nothing left but to enjoy themselves - to admire, sing, get up and dance.

good to know (in advance)

B-Cure Laser - does it really help?

The truth is revealed

Served on behalf of B Cure Laser

Buskila and Maimon (Photo: Yehats)

Buskila and his managers defined this show under the title "Twenty Years of Creation", to make the event festive.

It's fine for marketing purposes, and it's true that his first solo album was released in 2003, but the history is a little different.

Shimon Buskila founded the band "Sahara" 34 years ago, in 1988, and released two albums with it.

About another decade passed until Shlomo Artzi watched him in a television report that aired in 1999 and invited him to sing with him "Alesh", which was released on Artzi's "Ahabtim" album in 2000. Why is this important?

Because the title "twenty years of creation" does an injustice to Buskila's early years, which defined his artistic identity and from which he grew into music.

Buskila is one of the shy ones.

Sit with him one on one and he will take time to start talking.

But as Shlomo Artzi's devoted student, shy in his own right, he learned over the years to flourish when he sees an audience in front of him.

Last night at Live Park he was moved from the first moment, when he opened with "Shir Tikva".

Anyone who has been to Miri Masika's concert knows very well that this is the song she closes every show with.

Buskila decided to open with him, and turn it from an exciting song into a song that warmed the audience from the first moment, when he made them answer him with a chorus.

With nine musicians behind him, conducted by maestro Amit Harel on the piano, he immediately injected another dose of emotion with "Now I'm Coming Back", a song that breaks the heart even of the greatest cynics.

Did we say chain hits?

"Looking for a close friend" and "My tomorrow", in which the audience sings the beginning of the chorus beautifully, followed by "Sing with you" with Marina, a surprising cover version of Shoshana Demari and Boaz Sharabi, which was released during the Corona time in the "Zo Ha'a" project.

The wonderful Marina performed the hit "Together" by herself, which is a shame that it was not also performed as a duet.

After that Buskila returned to "Kema Ahava", which opened with an electric guitar phrase taken from Duran Duran's "come undone", a phrase that is a remnant of the joint show with Shiri Maimon and a beautiful memory of the late guitarist who originally played this phrase, the late Yonatan Fridge .

A short clip from a News 12 report that was projected on the screens reminded the audience that Buskila had recently reconnected with his sister, Anat, with whom he had not been in contact for many years, and on the occasion of the union he even wrote her the song "Ohati" in Moroccan.

The circle was closed when during the performance of the song last night he went down to the audience to hug her and made many eyes in the audience water.

Heartless cynics will say that this is a kitsch tearjerker and that the article was aired on TV not by chance in the week when the show was announced as part of the festival.

Those who believe in Buskila's sincerity, and know that he is unable to fake an emotion, believe him even in these moments, the most personal and the most painful.

Kobi Apallo stepped into the shoes of Lior Narkis in "Tagidi", still the most beautiful song in Narkis' career, and remained to uplift the audience with "Letter to my brother".

In "Breathe" Buskila also sings Eliad Nahum's parts.

Luckily for the audience, Shiri Maimon came on right after him, whose stage partnership with Buskila lasted for eight years, to show that their "Until the End of the World" was and remains one of the strongest duets of this era in Israeli music.

Maimon, dressed in a beautiful dress, was left alone for "Breath", American soul in the style of Whitney Houston, which was amazingly performed.

And only here in Israel, a moment after this American soul, you get the Algerian "Jereich" with the stupid rhythm in which Buskila descends on the audience.

He stayed in North Africa with "Why Me Why You" and connected it to Tipex's "Inside Newspaper" to which he added a Moroccan.

A pleasure that brought hundreds to their feet.

This show was a rollercoaster of emotions, and you had to hold on tight not to fall.

A moment after everyone was on their feet, Idan Raichel and a grand piano took the stage to accompany Buskila in "Minhar Li Meshiti" ("From the day you left") known as "Ya Mama", a song in which even those who do not understand a word of Moroccan get excited.

Raichel, who only came to cheer, then picked up an accordion and also accompanied in "Hatmakrot", a rhythmic song in Moroccan that was released as part of "The Project", and stayed for the sweeping "And if you come to me".

After that Busquila went to Spain for a moment with "Your Night".

But all these were just appetizers and appetizers before the main course.

The moment when Shlomo Artzi took the stage felt completely different.

It is a giant with a grandiose presence, which immediately draws all the attention to it.

Suddenly Buskila and his nine musicians and Avi Singolda who joined seemed small.

The charisma of my countryman filled the air.

The audience reacted like those who saw a life-sized prime minister.

My generous countryman told about the connection with Buskila.

They sang "Aleesh" together and bombarded with "I was in heaven", which Artzi sounded great in, although according to him he did not rehearse with Buskila's musicians.

He went on to the eternally optimistic "Tatar Lekhem", and was supposed to finish, but stayed for a fourth song, pampering the audience with "Under the sky of the Mediterranean Sea".

Buskila joined in and Artzi enjoyed emphasizing lines like "Elections will come soon" and "Half the world hates half."

Bull hit.

Buskila concluded this special evening with "How you don't see" and "Until the road ends",

His latest hit that once again showed how much he knows the craft.

May his path never end.

• culture

Tags

• Shimon Buskila