Andy Wahloo Tent at Meet d3
In my previous post, I said I'd write more about the Andy Wahloo tent that was set up during the three days of the Meet d3 event.
The tent was a Dubai version of the Andy Wahloo bar-restaurant in Paris, a collaboration between artist Hassan Hajjaj and award-winning restaurateur Mourad 'MoMo' Mazouz. It was decked out with Hajjaj’s trademark style of recycled North African objects and pop-culture references, and the food was from Almaz by Momo.
It was in this tent, I referred to it as Disco Tent, where I spent most of my time and had the most fun all three days. It felt like I was attending a mini music festival. There was an eclectic line up of bands and DJs and a great vibe amongst the crowd which I personally don't feel on many nights out in Dubai.
What I think made the Disco Tent special is it reflected what a night out in Dubai should feel like - a good mix of music enjoyed by all nationalities without any restrictions imposed at most licensed venues in Dubai.
There were no bouncers telling you where to sit/stand, no snobby guest list, no "no national dress" code you see in most licensed venues in Dubai. The place was open to everyone and no one felt uncomfortable or like they didn't belong. I also liked there was no-smoking allowed, a rule I think that is much needed here at all music venues.
This is how it should be in Dubai, but sadly, it is not something that is often experienced here. But during those three days, all the music heads I know and met were having the time of their lives and we kept wondering why we don't have more places like this in Dubai.
Deep down we all wished the Disco Tent would stay after Meet d3 ended, but alas, it was dismantled. I do hope something with the same spirit can crop up somewhere in this city.
Here's are some images from the three days I was there:
Interiors designed by Hassan Hajjaj
Gnawa music
Simo Lagnawi, Marouane El Fathi and Mohammed El Gasmi brought us Gnawa music, a long tradition of trance music which travelled through Morocco from the Sahara. Since his arrival in the U.K in 2008, Simo has been a relentless pushing new boundaries fusing Gnawa with music from countries such as Gambia, Burkina faso, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, India, Japan, Venezuela, and the Caribbean.
For Meet d3 he was being joined by two traditional Gnawa performers from Marrakech for his performance at the Andy Wahloo tent.
Mehdi Haddab and Speed Caravan
Mehdi Haddab is an Algerian-French musician, and a pioneer of the electric oud (lute). Over the years, he’s played a major role in developing and adapting the instrument to different music genres.
Haddab is known in the West as “Jimi Hendrix of the electric oud” for his masterful performances. He has founded several band including Ikova, DuOud and Speed Caravan and has collaborated with prominent musicians including Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
Haddab performed a killer version of Galvanize by The Chemical Brothers (I found a video of the track you can watch and listen to below).
Luke Howard from Horse Meat Disco
Luke Howard is one quarter of Horse Meat Disco, the four man DJ club collective that has continued to lead the way in the disco field with packed residencies at their HQ, Eagle London in London’s inner city Vauxhall, Cielo and various venues in New York, Prince Charles in Berlin and Silencio/Wanderlust in Paris.
Now approaching their tenth year of existence and inspired by the music and inclusive ethos of New York’s heady club scene in the 1970s-80s, the collective has garnered a unique reputation for throwing amazing parties with unmatchable sets.
Everyone was dancing to Luke Howard's set, he was on for two of the three nights and some great tunes.
Jannis (Jakarta Records)
Jannis' set included Middle Eastern dance classics from the 1960s-70s. You can hear some of his mixes on his Soundcloud account Habibi Funk.
DJ Lafriq from Arfoud Brothers band
James Locksmith
Dubai based DJ James Locksmith was the last DJ on the last night and at one point during his set, there was a guy drumming along to his set. At that point, almost everyone was on stage dancing the last dance.
Here's a short video to give you a glimpse inside the tent.