Alik and Marina Tarraf Land the Hook on The Encore When Fujairah Calls for Boomerang
A 24-Voice Choir, an Orchestra and a Band Close a Three-Volume Fujairah Live Trilogy
The hook that saved the night came from the crowd. “Boomerang! Boomerang!” rang out across the open-air concert in the Fujairah mountains after the planned farewell, and Alik Tarraf and Marina Tarraf answered it. Tarraf Productions Live, Vol. III: The Encore, released on 25 September, is the record of what happened next.
Marina Tarraf’s new live album is in the playlist below, and her full run of coverage sits on Marina Tarraf’s artist profile. The Encore came to PopHits.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Press play, then keep reading.
Rock Shows With an Orchestra and a Choir Are the Wave Alik and Marina Tarraf Ride on The Encore
The idea of a rock band facing an orchestra goes back more than half a century. Deep Purple played Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall on 24 September 1969. The Royal Philharmonic sat behind them, with Malcolm Arnold conducting. The pairing has never really gone away, because each side brings what the other lacks: the orchestra brings sweep, and the band brings drive.
The Tarrafs push that pairing further. Their music, which Alik calls Epic Evolution Music, mixes cinematic rock, electronic energy, live orchestration and multilingual storytelling. In Fujairah that meant an orchestra, a rock band and the TARRAF EPIC CHOIR of twelve women and twelve men. Electronic textures and Middle Eastern percussion sat around them.
They also kept the night whole. The trilogy releases 64 tracks across three volumes, with the spoken introductions, the improvisations and the instrumental moments left in their places. The Encore is the last of them, with 19 tracks that run for an hour and 23 minutes.
The Encore Places Alik and Marina Tarraf Between Ukrainian Roots and a Mountain Stage in Fujairah
Both artists are Ukrainian-born and now work from Abu Dhabi, where they run TARRAF PRODUCTIONS together as a label, studio and live production company. Marina is a singer, songwriter, creative director and co-founder, and the catalogue they have built together runs past 300 recordings. Their first track, SWINGS, came out on 21 August 2025.
The concert took place on 8 June 2026, and it was their first TARRAF LIVE SHOW. Nearly two thousand people stood in front of the stage. The main programme was planned at 35 songs, with Dream of Light as the rehearsed encore. Then the crowd called for Бумеранг, and Alik told the team: “Don’t freak out – we’ll break through!” They kept going until they had played 49 songs.
The Encore holds that last stretch. The band and singers performed without playback, so every catch in a voice stayed on the tape. On ASH and NEON you can hear the nerves before the song settles. Then the guitars, drums, strings and choir come in together. The host, Lezzy, also leads the call and response on Evolution is Alive, trading lines with Marina, the choir and the crowd.
The credits read like a small company. Alik produced and engineered the recordings. Marina directed the visuals, worked on the choreography and edited all 19 tracks, while Manik Bhatheja served as executive producer. On stage, Alex played drums, Miki electric guitar, Hugu keyboards and M.A.X. tabla.
Within Temptation and Black Symphony Are the Nearest Neighbours to The Encore
The closest relation on record is Within Temptation‘s Black Symphony. The Dutch band recorded it at Rotterdam Ahoy on 7 February 2008 with the Metropole Orkest, choirs and special guests. Listeners who know that album will recognise the scale of The Encore. Both put a band, an orchestra and a choir in front of a big crowd. The difference is the setting, an open-air stage in the mountains rather than an arena, and a set that ran well past its own plan.
The Tarrafs are already preparing the next TARRAF LIVE SHOW. They want it to break the fourth wall and pull the audience directly into the story.
PopHits.News’s curator team: “Three live albums in a little over ten weeks is a serious pace for an independent label. The Encore ends that run on the night’s least planned hour, which is why it sits in our Soundtrack, Cinematic and Trip-Hop playlist.”
Where to Stream and Follow Alik and Marina Tarraf
Stream The Encore on Apple Music or choose another service through the album’s smartlink. The earlier volumes have smartlinks of their own for Vol. I and Vol. II.
- Marina Tarraf: Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, X and her YouTube channel
- Alik Tarraf: Apple Music, Amazon Music, the Tarraf Production YouTube channel and X
- TARRAF PRODUCTIONS: Facebook, TikTok and the official site
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