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Elyanna Bridges Cultures At The Park West In Chicago
By Roman Sobus
Elyanna is a newcomer to the performance scene. Born in Nazareth, Israel in 2002 of Palestian and Chilean parents. She emigrated to the United states with her parents at age 15, settling first in San Diego and eventually in Los Angeles where she was able to persue her Musical dream.
She has release two EP thus far, the first “Elyanna” in 2020 and the second “Elyanna II” in 2022 and had what she calls her second “legit” performance on the stage at Coachella in 2023 where she sang the full set in Arabic.
This is Elyanna’s second visit to Chicago as a performer. After selling out the originally scheduled venue, this performance was moved to the Park West to accommodate the demand for more tickets. Two hours before show time, the line of eager fans stretched down the block. Many wore hijabs and kuffiyas in Palestinian colors as a symbol of solidarity with Elyanna’s cultural background.
The venue filled quickly once the doors opened and despite the published show time, the actual performance began more than forty five minutes later. During that time, rounds of chants erupted from the crowd: “Free Palestine!” and “From the River….”, while a few fans waved Palestinian flags.
The light dimmed and the performance began to the sound of cheering fans. Her performance is as much about visuals as it is about song. It is mixture of modern dance, and ballet enhanced by the sound of traditional Middle Eastern folk drums, the oud and guitar tying it all together, and supplementing the experience.
Her set ran twenty two songs, but they are short by Western standards. She was joined by Canadian artist Massari, who heads up A&R at Universal Arab Music. During his intro, he called Elyanna “the hardest working artist in the business”. It definitely shows!
She is scheduled to release another album in the near future and states she would be incorporating some of her Chilean culture into the project. I am looking forward to seeing how she will bridge the cultures!
For more on Elyanna, click here
For photos from the show, click here
@Elyanna live in Chicago @parkwest #Elyanna #parkwest #chicago #concertphotography #romansobus #IntheLoopMagazine https://beintheloopchicago.com/?p=53094
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