Alan Bishop, aka Alvarius B. (back), with his Invisible Hands band. Credit: COURTESY OF THE BAND

Alan Bishop, aka Alvarius B. (back), with his Invisible Hands band.

Alan Bishop, aka Alvarius B. (back), with his Invisible Hands band. They land at Barboza tonight. COURTESY OF THE BAND

In 2017, former Sun City Girls bassist/vocalist Alan Bishop decided he’d had enough of America’s bullshit and moved to Cairo, Egypt, after years of splitting his time between that northern African nation and Seattle.

The move makes sense. For one, he can smoke cigarettes wherever he wants in Cairo… perhaps even in pyramids. Do not underestimate the importance of this vice to the man who records under the Alvarius B. alias. It may be the key to his perverse creativity. For two, he’s found musical conspirators who help him manifest his vision(s) with utmost sympathy in his fanciful rock group the Invisible Hands: Cherif El-Masri, Aya Hemeda, Adham Zidan, and Morgan Mikkelsen.

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...