Despite the windy and rainy conditions on Friday evening, a huge crowd of music fans descended upon the InterContinental beach to enjoy the Big Day Out, the first music festival to be held in Qatar.
The event, which began in the afternoon, featured a large lineup of internationally recognised acts as well as numerous local bands, who managed to create a buzz around the venue and keep energy levels high going into the early hours of the morning.
Headlined by Hoobastank, the event also featured acts such as Toploader, Akcent, Mashrou3 Leila, and Aswad among others who played a wide range of musical styles, catering for the most eclectic of music tastes.
The evening climaxed with Hoobstank taking to the stage, and the group gave a lively and accomplished performance, belting out a few of their wellknown songs, with ‘The Reason’ receiving a particularly strong response from the audience.
In fact, the only issue with the performance was its brevity, although due to the nature of the packed lineup, timings were always going to be a tricky aspect of the festival. Unfortunately, Hoobstank were not on stage long enough for the fans, who could have quite happily listened to a few more songs.
Another predictably exciting part of the night was the performance of Toploader’s massive hit ‘Dancing in the Moonlight,’ which was an apt song to accompany the evening’s activities.
Sets from the likes of Aswad, Tarek Sidani and Mashrou3 Leila among others showcased a vast array of genres, and all of the acts got a warm response from the crowd who didn’t let the weather dampen their spirits.
And the large selection of local talent on display was also an encouraging sign for the local music scene, which has certainly been boosted by this Vodafone-Qatar sponsored event.
“It was good fun – it’s definitely good to have an event like this happening in Qatar,” said one fan, adding “the only problem was that the bands weren’t on for long enough.”
This seemed to be the overriding opinion of audience members, who clearly enjoyed their first experience of a music festival in Qatar.
Combined with Thursday evening’s performance, the weekend showed the popularity of music here, with fans of all ages and nationalities joining together and sharing the enjoyment of music from all over the world.
Follow us on our social media channels:
@ILQlive
@ILQlive
@ILoveQtr
ILoveQatar
