Hello, Shalom

” target=”_blank”>Shalom Hanoch in concert. I had never even heard of the guy.

But my co-worker, an Israeli ex-pat who was a young woman during Hanoch’s heydey, insisted that I come with her to his Saturday night, March 8 concert at the Avalon in Hollywood. She wanted to educate me on Israeli music, and Hanoch – being one of the greatest Israeli rock musicians in the country’s young history – would be a terrific start.

Beseder, I said. I’ll come.

So I went. But my coworker did not (for family reasons).

And, surprisingly, I had a great time!

Despite not knowing any of Hanoch’s songs and being one of the few concert goers under the age of 40, I really enjoyed the show.

Hanoch’s raspy, seductive voice was full of emotion during the quiet ballads and bursting with energy during the raucous rock songs. He was charismatic and a pleasure to watch, and he interacted with the crowd in a playful, genuinely interested manner. Their adoration was palpable: they swayed to his love songs, knew every lyric to every song, shouted requests, danced wildly and roared for an encore performance.