02 · The Stage

Founder of The Mercedes Band

Music came first, and it never left. From Israeli rock and roll to long Mediterranean nights. The stage moved, the work didn't.

Music collage
MusicCosta del Sol

I founded The Mercedes Band in Israel, and over the years it became one of the country's beloved rock and roll bands, the kind people remember the first time they heard, in a club, on a summer night, twenty years ago. That band is part of the soundtrack of the place I came from.

A stage is only a few square meters of wood. What happens on it is the rest of the room.

These days the stage is the Costa del Sol, and the work is mostly live production. The Kulam project is the heart of that: a recurring evening of music we have been building for years now, with a circle of musicians I trust and an audience that knows what to do with a good song.

Elad Alon playing acoustic guitar in a dim room Four old film photographs of The Mercedes Band on stage and backstage Concert crowd seen from behind the drums, Kulam in Tarifa Musicians seated in a circle around a gong at a ceremony-style concert Audience with raised hands at a concert Elad Alon seated with an acoustic guitar under white balloons Elad Alon with a singer and a frame-drum player on a wooden deck Elad Alon on guitar next to a singer at a microphone, outdoors Guests dancing at an outdoor event Elad Alon on guitar with a singer in a blue dress Seated audience at a daytime concert Elad Alon playing guitar, looking down at the strings Elad Alon in a patterned shirt, seated with a guitar Cello, Elad Alon on guitar, and a handpan player Three musicians on a small stage Singer at a microphone with Elad Alon on guitar Violin, Elad Alon on guitar and a handpan player in a bright room Close-up of guitar strings in blue stage light

The Mercedes Band · Kulam · Elysium · Stage Productions · Costa del Sol.

Some of the best nights have been with Anna, whose voice carries the room the way only a true singer's can. The two of us together have learned to read a room across a coast that knows how to listen, and how to dance.

Next

03 · The Body

← Back to homepage