Dubai Sound City Festival

Dubai has been getting some major international attention of late mostly because of the recent Grand Prix and the forthcoming opening of the world’s tallest hotel. Another event of note was the three day Sound City festival which featured 78 bands, artists and DJs from around the world.

The event featured showcases from established and new band split between seven venues throughout the city similar to the South-by-Southwest festival in America (East by Middle East?). Headliners Echo and the Bunnymen had to pull out at the last minute due to the illness of singer Ian McCulloch but they were replaced by the Super Furry Animals. In all five acts did not perform including Hip Hop legends De La Soul. Other than the no-shows the event was considered a success.

“The response has been hugely positive. There were between five and six thousand people here on Friday and there’s a great willingness for people who want to get on board next year.”

The festival was organized by David Pichilingi who also runs Liverpool Sound City. As well as live shows there were panel discussions and keynote speeches featuring big players from the international music industry. As well as some great bands there were a few old has beens hanging around like Ocean Colour Scene and the Human League. Perhaps next year when the festival is more established they will be able to draw some better artisits. No matter how cheap flights to Dubai get I’m not going to travel that far to see The Automatic and The Wombats.