Raving in Rio
“You moved back to Riyadh at the right time” — were sentiments echoed by everyone I met, or reconnected with after a 10 year hiatus from this town. Growing up, we were closed off from the world, from each other; we lived in secrecy, in perpetual fear of getting caught. We were raised in an atmosphere of dread, waiting to blow the lid off. Over the past three years, our sweet release has come in waves; reforms making way for new norms.
Last Thursday afternoon, I walked into a portal in the form of an electronic music festival, and walked out early Sunday morning — totally transformed. The “Soundstorm” came to the desert in late December with little warning. Just over a month before the festival, the MDL Beast marketing campaign flooded the scene; promoting a solid lineup of local and international DJs, each featured with sleek designs across the digital realm, text messages and billboards. This brand spoke the universal language of music, and it was music to my ears. The continuity of design was carried throughout the entire festival; from mind-blowing visuals across 5 stages, beastly sound-systems and an almost seamless experience design for upwards of 150k ravers.
We can speculate until kingdom come on who was on what — but I’d say that the majority of the ravers were sober, myself included — and that is unlike any other festival worldwide. That meant that plastic cups weren’t discarded all over the dancefloor, it meant that belligerence was few and far between. Consider this, maybe Saudi is so ahead of the curve, we’ve skipped a few steps – sober bars are just becoming a thing in the US, and here we are.
Instead most people fed off the energy of each other; delighted, shocked, confused, ecstatic — yet, in unison. Taking an educated guess, the majority of the festival-goers were first-timers; curious about the country’s latest spectacle and diving right into the crowd. Most of the attendees were male — expected in a country where men have owned the public space for decades. Still, there was a sizeable female representation ranging from; fully robed up in the abaya, to curious bunny costumes, long coats, the bedouin farwa (our practical take on a Snuggie); to Burner gear — psychedelic glasses, masks and faux-fur coats. Contrary to their purpose of shielding sand — ski goggles and face masks were used to hide identities. In an extremely private society hung up on “what people will say” — anonymity is key. An array of masks were on display; Scream, Money Heist, LED lights, The Joker. For a society stepping into public spaces with trepidation, they found apt guises to suit. The sartorial choices were hard to place; but true representations of their identities. 90s boy bands with their bandanas, evoking FUBU vibes. Full on bedouin attire; thobes and shmaghs wrapped around for warmth. A panda head. The ultimate Pashtun sirwal kamiz. All this to say, we’d all taken so many different paths to get here, and yet, here we were — dancing together, uninhibited.
At the extremity of our arms were our phones — filming the entire festival. With limited knowledge on the coterie of international DJs, party-goers were more interested in the selfie video, the loud exclamation that “I was here”. With limited platforms for expression and experimentation — young Saudis have chosen to be stars of their own shows; and MDL Beast was their grand stage. Beyond that, Saudis are self-sufficient entertainers — jokesters who don’t take themselves too seriously.
With rookie ravers, comes amateur dance moves. Dance-offs are a direct product of the performative nature of Saudis and a nascent dance culture. Another favorite was the human train; picking up people by the masses, snaking through the crowd. The only time I’ve been in a human train was to make sure I don’t lose my crew in a crowd. Alongside my gender-balanced squad, I flailed my arms to the beat, screamed ecstatically at the state of affairs, stomped my feet and stretched my smile to the far reaches of my face.
I was in awe, shock and admiration of everyone and everything surrounding us. I was finally able to express myself publicly through dance, on my own turf.
As a female attending any festival worldwide, I carried myself with awareness — further heightened considering the context. In cases where it was only me and another girl partying solo, we were cautious yet unbound — easily extracting ourselves from any uncomfortable situation. Though harassment was prevalent throughout — I was luckily not a victim — and understand that this comes with the territory. We’re in the throes of writing a new social code — be still my beating heart — it takes time and practice.
Sadly, yet unsurprisingly, the international conversation on this festival has taken a prototypical stance in the form of a “backlash”. I’ve grown tired of the Western-gaze narrative of criticizing the use of influencers for the country’s “image rehab”. Why are we conflating geopolitics with culture and entertainment? It’s lazy, dumb and boring.
The eternal optimist in me remains in awe, excited for the country’s trajectory and the birth of a new culture. Today, we’ll talk about a post-MDL Beast world — where clubs will open up, homegrown DJs will be nurtured and a slew of new dance moves will be meme’d.
