ISLAMABAD: Two years after his first performance in Islamabad, Diplo performed at The Rock Musicarium Saturday night.

Residents of the capital city were treated to electronic dance music by the American group and other artists during the much awaited Mad Decent Block Party.

The Musicarium was lit up with mesmerising lights, and the show featured an interesting line-up of talented local and international musicians.

The evening started off with local hip hop artist Mikki Murshed followed by a performance by ZOH – a DJ and producer born in Pakistan and brought up in the United Arab Emirates.

ZOH first tasted success in 2013 when the BBC featured his track Jump for three months.

The concert started at about 5pm and continued until almost midnight. All the musicians had tremendous stage presence and energy. They electrified the air with catchy tracks and noteworthy remixes. The audience, mostly in their 20’s, was a lively crowd.

The Pakistani artists who joined in the concert include Haider Mustehsan, Osama Com Laude, Shamoon Ismail, Lyari Underground, Valentino Khan, Chrome Sparks and Saturday Night Killing Machine (SNKM), a duo consisting of Adil Omar and Talal Qureshi.

Lyari Underground’s music talks about injustice, human rights and the culture of Lyari, while SNKM’s tracks contain a wide range of elements including pop, hip hop, industrial, rock’n’roll and psychedelic.

The evening ended with a performance by the American group Major Lazer, including Diplo.

Some of the tracks the group performed included Original Don, Boom, and All My Love. Starting the show with these songs, the band was ready to take it up a notch by moving into more electronic tunes. Major Lazer’s music carried perfectly inside the concert area and the bass shook the walls all the way through the gates.

The security arrangements at the concert were inadequate, although heavy security was in place for members of the prime minister’s family.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2018