Assala Nasri at Pechanga

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If your family is from the Levant, you already know that voice -- Assala Nasri has been one of the towering singers of the Arab world for more than thirty years, the kind of artist whose songs score weddings, heartbreaks, and long homesick nights across an entire diaspora. A US date is a rare event, and when it happens the Arab-American community drives from three states over to be in the room. That she is playing Temecula, of all places, means Southern California's Levantine families have a genuine reason to converge on the valley for one October night. Expect an audience that knows every word in Arabic and will sing them back to her. This is one of those shows where the crowd is half the experience. If this is your music, do not let it pass; if it isn't yet, prepare to be leveled.