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Why Eminem, Muse & More Will Play Saudi Arabia For the First Time in December: Inside the Event
A visit to the Soundstorm festival offers a window into the country's fast-changing culture - and the questions facing artists and fans who attend.
This year, the festival is drawing more superstars to the region, with Eminem, U.K. rock legends Muse, Jared Leto ’s band Thirty Seconds to Mars and dance titans Richie Hawtin and Marco Carola set to headline Soundstorm 2024 this December 12-14. Raised in Riyadh, Alammary grew up listening to music — house, disco, new wave — with his family and started DJing in 1997 while attending American University in Washington D.C., once receiving a call from the Saudi consulate telling him to stop playing at clubs if he wanted to keep his scholarship. When he returned home again in 2013, Alammary found “a different society — art exhibitions, film screenings, gatherings with mixed crowds.” In 2019, he helped form MDLBEAST with the government’s blessing, booking the first Soundstorm with local artists, plus dance music titans like Guetta, Steve Aok i, Tiësto and Afrojack.
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