As music genres continue to develop and change, over the last few years a new type of music has become very popular: electronic dance music or EDM. EDM concerts or Electronic Digital Concerts have gained widespread popularity internationally.

Multi-genre international music festivals such as Coachella in California and Glastonbury in the UK are well known, but there is altogether a different sort of hype surrounding EDM events such as the Ultra Music Festival in Florida and Tomorrowland in Belgium. This is probably because of associations of EDM with the controversial underground rave culture in the West but also because the stars at these shows are DJs rather than the usual type of musicians. Pakistan has joined the trend by starting to accept such music. While EDM may not be mainstream in our industry as of yet, there are many in Pakistan who enjoy the work of the international DJs who produce such music.

Solis, an event initially organised in Islamabad in Feburary by Full Circle — a joint entertainment agency based between Canada and the Middle East — held a concert in Lahore earlier this month. With a fizzy beverage brand as the sponsor, it was the second such event in Pakistan and the first to host as many international artists on site.

Electronic dance music makes a breakthrough in Pakistan, with greater acceptance of a festival dedicated to it

Turhan James, a Pakistani-born Canadian DJ who started his career some two years ago, was the first to open the night with a remix of the Game of Thrones theme song, a popular ongoing TV show now in its final season. Turhan swayed to his beats which comprised remixes and generic mash-ups. His performance started almost two hours off the mark as the crowd had turned up late.

It was during DJ Turhan’s last song, LA, that crowds comprising mostly friends, who could be seen sitting in the open field, moved closer to stage and began to really get into the music. Turhan’s act was followed by Burak Yeter, Mike Williams, Zonderling, and Florent Denecker & Victorien Mulliez (FDVM), all artists who have made a prominent name for themselves in the international market.

“I thought the industry was dead here and that I was going to have to move back to Canada,” said Turhan while speaking to Icon. “But now that I see how it is here, I’m going to stay on and keep playing shows ... Solis broke a huge barrier in this country. It brought this sort of music to life.”

The stage was impressive, closely resembling that of the RedFestDXB held in Dubai every year, with the background screen morphing into psychedelic patterns and bright colourful shapes as the music changed. The smoke machines on the sides of the stage, activated every so often, gave the stage and the performing DJ a dramatic look to pump up the grooving crowd.

The crowd, noticeably on the younger side, sang and danced along to the music, some clearly more comfortable than others. With Pakistan being a conservative society, and this sort of activity previously taking place only at closed, private venues, it will probably take some time before people can feel comfortable opening up and dancing in public, as is witnessed at most EDM concerts round the world.

Again, like most public events in Pakistan, this one too was mostly male-dominated. Perhaps it had something to do with the remote location, or perhaps it was because, regardless of class, public spaces always have and will be unconventional spaces for women. Having said so, such events should facilitate women by having separate lines at the security checkpoint and entrance.

Also, premium events such as these don’t come cheap and carry a steep ticket price, which in this case was 3,500 to 5,000 rupees, with the VIP pass priced at a whopping 10,000 rupees. The event, which took place at a golf resort, attracted crowds from all over Lahore, who found about the event through social media. It was also announced that ‘Solis’ would come to Karachi next.

Solis has clearly broken barriers in the Pakistan’s music industry. While it mostly catered to international artists, it has the potential to lend a platform for local DJs who are only too eager for such an outlet to display their talent.

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 28th, 2019