By Saudi-based electronic music festival MDLBEAST is hitting the road. Details are sparse at the moment but the festival’s website states: “Unleashing the beast in your hood. MDLBEAST Presents takes the show on the road. More to come soon.” We’d like to think the MDLBEAST organisers are considering Dubai or Abu Dhabi as a destination.
MDLBEAST hit the headlines in December 2019. The first electronic music festival to ever take place in Saudi, it attracted over 400,000 party people over three days. Headline DJs included David Guetta, Afrojack, Tiësto and Steve Aoki. There was plenty of choice for those with more discerning electronic music tastes too, with sets from Nicole Moudaber, Marco Carola, Bedouin, Danny Tenaglia, Jimpster and Jamie Jones.
Billed as an annual event, last year’s edition didn’t go ahead because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, MDLBEAST launched its Freqways online music experience, with DJs playing from iconic locations around the world. Meanwhile, MDLBEAST Frequencies streams sets 24 hours a day.
Contender
Now it looks like MDLBEAST Presents will see physical versions of the festival pop up outside of Saudi. With events like the recent KISS gig at Atlantis The Palm passing off successfully, the UAE must surely be a contender.
Let’s face it, we could be doing with a few more decent festivals in the UAE. The popular Sandance festivals at Atlantis The Palm are a distant memory. The first Ultra Music Festival in Abu Dhabi was pulled at the last minute due to Covid. There’s no news if it will return. We can’t wait for Dubai’s homegrown and award-winning Groove on the Grass festival to fire up again when Covid restrictions permit. But there’s room for a few more.
