He was introduced, to applause, as the famous Salad.

In the brightly lit gym at the Multi-Purpose Center, he slid from one poppy tempo to another Saturday night, with Rahma “Ruhi” Ali singing, clapping and smiling beside him. Ali dressed in a vibrant gown, an eye-catching performer. Salad (pronounced Sah-LAD) Mohamed Shardi wore a dark suit, reserved as a banker when he wasn’t on stage.

“These are famous singers, very famous,” said Said Mohamed, president of the African Immigrant Association. “Back home it is very hard to get Salad, very hard, he’s very expensive.”

Somali music has different sounds by region, Mohamed said. Shardi’s style captured the north, Ali the middle.

The crowd, in for hours of music from different Somali singers, initially hung back. By 8 p.m., about 60 people lined the bleachers and tables and more kids mingled outside. Some adults chatted, but nobody danced.

“The first time, everybody’s shy,” said Barlin Mohamud. By the end of the long night, she predicted, they’d be out there.

“Some music is only for listening, some music for understanding tradition, some music for life, some music for love,” Mohamud said. “Women, always, like to dance with women.” Men, she mused, also like to dance with women; the culture doesn’t welcome too much of that.

Organizer Omar Ahmed told the crowd AIA had sponsored the evening as part of its mission to bring the two communities together and live in harmony.

“We have to continue until we stand up together,” he said, then gave a message in Somali.

Ahmed said he could remember the singer Shardi from his youth. Shardi, who lives in Portland now, has been performing since 1963. He had a famous play back home that ran for 1,500 nights, Ahmed said. The English translation of its title is roughly, “Love Eaten by a Whale.”

“It looks like Juliet and Romeo, similar to that,” he said. “He was singing at the same time he was performing.”

In the audience, most people seemed to listen in rapt attention. Younger performers, waiting their own turns, popped on stage to sing choruses with Ali and Shardi. None looked deterred by the lack of outward fanfare.

“It’s interesting, I like the beat,” said Elaine DeLuca of Lewiston. Her boyfriend was the sound man for the evening.

She said, going in, she wasn’t sure going in what to expect.