For John Khalil and his four friends, the idea seemed simple at first: They would take to Cairo's crowded metro stations and play popular folk songs for free to lighten the daily load of the city's marginalized metro riders.
"Our first goal was that people would be happy," Khalil, a 24-year-old engineering student, told Al-Monitor. Most metro riders cannot afford the cost of a concert, Khalil reasoned, while taking Egypt's public transit can be a taxing daily chore. So his band, Metro Tune, would bring the music and cheer to the people in a city facing tough economic and political times.
