By HANA BEN-ANOISRAELI ROCK legends Mashina and Ehud Banai please the crowd in Tel Aviv with some of their classic hits.(photo credit: SHLOMI PINTO)
Last week’s joint concert featuring Mashina and Ehud Banai was a transporting event, due to the amazing participation of the energetic Banai family.Ehud Banai sang Mashina’s songs as if he wrote the words, while Mashina seamlessly played renditions of Banai’s numbers. Ehud and Mashina lead singer Yuval Banai are cousins, and the warm feeling of family emanating from the stage enveloped the audience and transformed them into one large Jerusalemite clan for the evening.The crowning moment involved a surprise appearance by HaGashash HaHiver actor Gavri Banai – uncle to both Ehud and Yuval, brother of famed singer Yossi Banai (father of Yuval) and one of the founding fathers of Israel’s music scene – who joined in performing the song “Rehov Hagas 1” (1 Hagas Street). This brought the crowd to its feet, with applause lasting for many minutes.First, Gavri Banai skillfully provided background to the song, in the form of an amusing anecdote about growing up in Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda neighborhood, on – yes – 1 Hagas Street.Gavri also took the opportunity to extol nephews Ehud and Yuval, who started out as his babysitting charges and, he chuckled, “turned out okay.”All of the songs were old favorites, wellknown on the Israeli music scene – and the crowd sang along with every word.And even though the tunes were written in the ‘80s and ‘90s, they are just as relevant today.Particular crowdpleasers included Ehud Banai’s “Arbev Et Hatiya” (Mix Up the Plaster), the tale of Ahmed, an Arab construction worker from Gaza who must pass through the checkpoints to come work in Tel Aviv; and “Az Lama Li Politica Achshav” (Why Should I Bother With Politics Now), with the title also comprising the famed line of the song that everyone had been waiting for all night – and shouted as one.As Mashina and the Banais jammed on another line from the song “Az Lama Li,” the words held particular resonance – with under a month left until an election many are calling unnecessary. “And the masses brought down the Berlin Wall, and for you and I, there is left just hope.”Translated by Erica Schachne
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
