Saudi reinvented: Desert Storm a rave!

Riyadh: The Saudi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman may have lifted a ban on women driving, and stopped the Muttawa or religious police from caning women who dared to brave the streets alone without a male companion. But last Friday’s rave party out in the desert, some 20 km out of the capital Riyadh in Banban shows how far this conservative kingdom has come.

Ripped jeans and women minus the veil were de rigeur, all dancing to loud music at a first of its kind concert in the Gulf country, signalling a gender desegregation that has blown away the conservative norms that had been strictly enforced in this desert state.

The rave in Saudi Arabia this weekend highlighted the changes catapulting through the conservative kingdom under its controversial crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who has lifted a ban on women driving, loosened gender segregation and defanged the religious police in the past few years. The only difference between the four day music fest in the desert and those held in more progressive cities in other Gulf states like Dubai and Bahrain, was the sound of the Islamic call to prayer that rang out. The music stopped, but it resumed 15 minutes later, after the faithful completed their prayers.

Dubbed the MDL Beast Soundstorm with live DJs Tuesto and Armin Van Buren at the turntable, this was clearly a whole new desert storm . —(Agencies)