RIYADH: In just a few years since its launch in 2019, MDLBEAST Soundstorm has established itself as the Gulf’s biggest music festival, but also staked a claim to being the world’s largest rave — last year’s event reportedly drew in 730,000 attendees. This year’s edition, the fifth, will likely be even bigger, with more than 150 artists performing in 10 different areas around the festival venue. Once again, the focus in on electronic dance music, with the vast majority of performers being DJ-producers — from global A-listers like David Guetta and Armin Van Buuren to local luminaries like Baloo and Biirdperson. But there’s plenty of variety on show too, from hip-hop legends to rock stars. Here are just a few of the can’t-be-missed sets to catch next weekend.
Featured acts
This year’s headliners on the Big Beast stage are an impressively eclectic bunch of genuine superstars. The hugely influential US rapper Eminem, who did much to popularize hip-hop in America — particularly among white people — performs on Thursday night, as do rock-rap pioneers Linkin Park, back on the road this year for the first time since their original co-lead vocalist Chester Bennington’s death in 2017. His replacement is Emily Armstrong, co-founder of the LA rock outfit Dead Sara. Early reviews of the new lineup — which also includes drummer Colin Brittain stepping in to replace Rob Bourdon — have been promising: “Armstrong makes each Linkin Park classic her own without changing their shape, from the hulking ‘Given Up’ and its screaming breakdown to the raw beauty of ‘Breaking the Habit,’” the Guardian wrote of their London performance in September. On Friday, UK rockers Muse — regularly dubbed one of the world’s best live bands, Scottish DJ-producer Calvin Harris — the first British solo artist to rack up more than 1 billion streams on Spotify, and Grammy-winning US alt-hip-hop star Tyler, The Creator — co-founder of collective Odd Future — all play. And US singer-songwriter Camila Cabello (pictured), who rose to fame as a member of Fifth Harmony — one of the bestselling girl groups in history — but whose solo output is heavily influenced by Latin music, wraps things up on Big Beast on Saturday, the same night that Hollywood star Jared Leto’s band — US rockers Thirty Seconds to Mars, US rapper-singer Russ, and The Roots — the house band on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” led by Questlove — perform on the DWN Beast stage.
The hugely influential US rapper Eminem, who did much to popularize hip-hop in America — particularly among white people — performs on Thursday night. (Getty Images)
Superstar DJs
Among the dozens of top-quality DJ-producers taking to the various stages over the weekend, there are several major global EDM legends, including Dutchman Martin Garrix, ranked number one in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs list in 2016, 2017 and 2018, who plays a back-to-back set with Sweden’s Alesso on Thursday night; France’s ubiquitous David Guetta (also playing a B2B set, this one with fellow ‘future rave’ inventor, Denmark’s Morten Breum); America’s Steve Aoki (B2B with Bosnian-Swedish DJ Salvatore Ganacci); Garrix’s fellow Dutch DJ Armin Van Buuren, who has also topped DJ Mag’s top 100 list in four successive years (2007-2010 inclusive), and then again 2012, giving him a record five ‘titles’; and (two of the) co-founders of progressive house stars Swedish House Mafia, now performing as a DJ duo, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso; and Grammy-winning South African DJ-producer Black Coffee. A full list of performers is available on the MDLBEAST website.
DJ Armin Van Buuren (AFP)
Arab stars
As well as the international A-listers flying in to Riyadh this week, a number of major regional stars are also performing at Soundstorm. From Lebanese diva Elissa (pictured), whose records have reportedly sold more than 30 million copies and whose long-delayed 13th studio album, “Ana Seketeen,” was released in May, the hugely popular Egyptian rap artist Marwan Moussa, and his compatriot, the singer Ahmed Saad, to the Kingdom’s own Abdul Majeed Abdullah, among others.
Elissa will perform at the event. (AFP)
Local heroes
Once again, MDLBEAST is providing lesser-known Saudi acts with a huge platform on which to shine at Soundstorm. Keep an eye out for the all-female psychedelic rock band Seera (pictured), who’ve been rapidly accruing fans and media coverage over the past couple of years. In terms of DJ-producers, expect Leen, Omar Bassad, Baloo, Loush, Hats and Klaps, and Biirdperson’s sets to get the crowds excited.
