In celebration of the upcoming Iranian New Year, the Iranian Students’ Association of Concordia (ISAC) hosted a concert last Saturday with Iranian-American pop sensation Mansour.
Considered by many to be the Persian equivalent of Enrique Iglesias, the singer did not disappoint, although he did show up an hour late.
The show began with Le Chateau Royale’s capacity crowd growing restless through an hour-long delay.
Just before the atmosphere of excitement was to die down and people would have started screaming for their money back, Ahmad Sadr, VP Finance for the ISAC welcomed fans with much hype and enthusiasm, he yelled,. “Who wants to hear Mansour? Make some noise for Mansour!!!” and received much screams of joy in return. The audience crowded around the stage on the venue’s tiny dance floor anxiously waiting for the star to sing some famous tunes.
When Mansour finally jumped on stage, the band initiated the first song with the high tempo beats of Iranian pop music.
Hands in the air, wrists twirling, and waists moving from side to side, the crowd erupted in dance. Everyone one was enjoying the music, whether or not they understood Farsi.
As Frank Michael, an economics student from Concordia happily stated, “I’m not Persian but I’m Egyptian and our music is very similar.”
All enjoyed the very danceable music.
During intermission, a cheering crowd applauded students receiving prizes and graduate certificates from a range of Quebec universities.
Audience members were also chosen during the intermission to draw winning ticket stubs for various giveaways. When the grand prize of a round trip to Iran was announced, people were holding their tickets tightly anticipating who would be winner. The woman whose number was called was ecstatic, like many at the concert she has family in the country.
The concert was organized in preparation for the Iranian New Year of Norouz, which coincides with the beginning of spring, the show’s organizers and Mansour did a great job of setting the tone for the season.
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