Popular Saudi singer Mohammed Abdu took to the stage in Jeddah late Monday for a rare concert at a time when the Kingdom is seeking to boost entertainment venues for its residents. The performance by Abdu, a mustachioed singer popular throughout the Arab world, was the first major concert in seven years in Jeddah. About 8,000 enthusiastic and mostly young fans filled an indoor sports venue for Abdu's romantic and patriotic songs. He was backed by an Egyptian orchestra and performed alongside another Saudi artist, Rabeh Sager, and Iraqi-Saudi singer Majid al-Muhandis. Abdu was to sing in Riyadh last September but the show was cancelled without explanation. It would have been the first live concert held in the capital in 24 years, local media said. Eman Al-Nafjan, a popular blogger on Saudi society, in 2008 compared Abdu to the legendary British musician and former Beatles member Paul McCartney. "What also made Abdu such a hit is his clean reputation for being a family man," Nafjan wrote.
