PHRE Festival: Adil Smaali & Le Grand Bal Raï + Walid Ben Selim

This is not a World Music Festival.

This is PHRE.

PHRE Festival presents an outdoor night of Raï, diasporic club sounds and dancefloor selections with Adil Smaali & Le Grand Bal Raï, Lucy Sky and Djay Darismus.

Led by singer and guembri player Adil Smaali, Le Grand Bal Raï celebrates the golden era of Algerian Raï while bringing it into the present. Inspired by figures such as Cheb Khaled, Cheikha Rimitti and Rachid Taha, the ensemble blends North African melodies, percussion, violin, bass and electronic touches into a powerful, danceable live show. More than a tribute, it is a high-energy reinterpretation of Raï’s rebellious and emotional spirit.

The French-Moroccan singer and composer Walid Ben Selim is one of the defining voices of the contemporary Arab music scene. Together with harpist Marie-Marguerite Cano, he gives the texts of great Sufi poets and the prominent Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish a haunting musical form. The duo creates a hypnotic, enchanting atmosphere when song, poetry, and harp merge under the open sky.

Before and after the concerts, Lucy Sky and Djay Darismus guide the evening through global musical rabbit holes, obscure danceable sounds, Iranian and Azerbaijani influences, and borderless selections rooted in Munich’s independent scene.

Entry is free from 00:00.

Ab 00:00 ist der Eintritt frei.

Presented by Rausgegangen München and BR/Zündfunk.

Presented by Import Export Munich.

All ages