The Sounds You’ll Hear at Soho Garden and Beyond on NYE
Soho Garden has New Year’s Eve all sewn up with incredible DJ bookings across the sprawling Meydan complex and beyond. House and techno heads can rock into 2022 with some of the hottest artists on the planet. Soho Garden’s talent booker gets it spot on by securing Stephan Bodzin, Solardo, Keinemusik’s Rampa and &Me and more for NYE. Here’s our breakdown of who is headlining where – and some of the music you’ll likely hear.
Solardo at Soho Garden Palm Jumeirah, The Palm
It’s fair to say Solardo might have a soft spot for Dubai. The UK house duo ushered in 2021 with an NYE gig at Soho Garden DXB. Now they’re heading back to lead the New Year shenanigans at the newly-opened Soho Garden Palm Jumeirah.
Mark Richards and James Eliot are on a wild globetrotting ride as Solardo, blazing their way through gigs and festivals. The Manchester lads are masters at reinventing and creating rave tunes for a new generation. The proof is in the pudding – from 2015’s New Jam through to XTC featuring Eli Brown and Enough featuring Rowetta. Two years ago they reworked Marshall Jefferson’s Move Your Body and this year they teamed up with Calvin Harris under his Love Generator alias.
Today, Mark and James are amongst the most in-demand DJs in the world, headlining every club and festival worth its salt. What’s more, they firmly believe in supporting new talent through their Sola and Sola Nauts labels. Expect loud shirts and fun, boisterous house tunes from this pair.
Stephan Bodzin (live) at Code, Meydan
With his first artist album in six years fresh out the trap recently, Stephan Bodzin underscored his genius. While his productions constantly push the genre forward, the German producer’s live show is one of techno’s most celebrated.
Released in October, Boavista is a 17-track opus of exquisitely crafted, rich, synth-heavy, beautiful electronic music. Bodzin was determined that each album track should paint a musical picture and conjure up very real emotions in the listener. Playing the album live was in the back of Bodzin’s mind throughout the creative process. So expect powerful basslines and stunning melodies during Bodzin’s full live show at Code.
Rampa vs &Me at Soho Garden DXB, Meydan
Magic happens when Keinemusik’s Adam Port, &ME and Rampa get together in the studio or behind the decks. The Berlin-based house music trio’s second album, Send Return, is certainly out of the ordinary. Released last month, it sees the lads explore beyond the dancefloor to dabble in some neo-R&B, neo-disco and even pop. The album still boasts enough signature club tunes to get the rave going, though. Cuts like The Day I Met You and Discoteca are dancefloor burners. Rampa and &Me will be packing plenty of dancefloor heat during their back-to-back set at Soho Garden DXB.
Michael Bibi at NSG, Meydan
DJ and producer Michael Bibi is also one of dance music’s hottest tickets. Following a well-worn route, Bibi built up a following via his own Solid Grooves parties in London. He also started turning heads with releases on Viva Music, Lost Records, Madtech and his own Solid Grooves label. But it was his 2018 track Hanging Tree that catapulted his career to the next level. By the following year he was running a successful Solid Grooves residency at Privilege Ibiza and scooped Best Tech-House DJ at the island’s DJ Awards.
Keeping things fresh, Bibi launched his own club event series ISOLATE, following through with his new imprint ISO LAT last year. Fresh from a fall tour in the US, Michael dropped his new track Soul System on the label earlier this week.
With that great line-up to choose from, everything in Soho Garden really is rosy on Friday 31 December. Call +971 52 3888849 for more info and reservations.
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