Zeph: "But I find fan veils very boring (not difficult but boring."
[Caution: long, opinionated rambling ahead...]
I think there is an underlying problem that many dancers struggle with what to do with slow music, which is why there are a lot of weak veil and fan performances. If you can't figures out how to move in an engaging way to a slow song, adding fabric does not fix the problem. It just means you subcontract a good chunk of your performance to an inanimate object's dancing, while you, depending on your choreography, imitate a Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube Man or a Slab of Seasoned Lamb on a Gyro Rotisserie. A performance that consists of four minutes of standing and flapping, punctuated by long turn sequences is almost always boring.
Rule #1 of Veil Dancing: Film yourself dancing your choreography without your fabric prop (AKA "air veil"). If you still have a viable performance, carry on.
I agree with this 100%. And to me, fan veils are just mostly distracting from the dance, period. Not my favorite, to say the least. I have always found drum solos to be very easy, but you are point on in that slower songs are harder, partly because you can't "rush" or "fake" it - everything you do is seen more.
If you realize you don't have enough meaningful dancing in your dance, revise.
I don't mean to belittle how much harder it can be to dance to slow music than fast music. Your performing skills have to be better, because sloppy technique and psychological shortcomings like stage fright and lack of confidence are more prominent. Manifesting sadness or longing feels more vulnerable than the emotions typical of most up-tempo songs, where you are already investing much of your energy in the physical aspect of the performance anyway. I think this is partially why insufficiently experienced dancers are tempted to put yards of fabric between themselves and the audience.
Slow music is just more challenging. I often struggle with the feeling that I'm not doing a slow song justice myself. I don't understand why so many beginners want to start their solo performing careers with a fabric dance. The music takes more skills to interpret well and you're adding a prop! Give yourself the easy win! Pick a peppy song and bop around while the audience enthusiastically cheers you on!
Having said all of that, I personally prefer traditional veil or wings over fan veils. When wings started to become popular (15-20 years ago), they were often used in fantasy pharaonic pieces, before becoming a mainstream alternative to the half-circle veil. I think that initial connection meant wings evolved with more of a traditional technique base. Fan veils weren't well grounded in fusion with the Far Eastern dances where they originated. They just sort of barged onto the BD scene at a time when lots of dancers were competing to have the next hot thing on the teaching circuit as a cheap, novel prop, and I think it explains why the depth of artistry with fan veils can feel shallow.
Zeph: "Dance wise I feel drum solo is hard for me"
I was fortunate to spend some time working with a native teacher who explained that Middle Easterners tend to see drum solos as songs (that just don't happen to have melodies), whereas foreign dancers often view them as opportunities to demonstrate their isolation skills. The idea that you should approach a drum solo as a song and not a puzzle to figure out if you should do four or eight hip drops at a time changes the whole approach.