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MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival
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MDL Beast Soundstorm (read Middle Beast) is an electronic music festival launched in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though an edition took place in 2021, the 2022 edition definitely showed a comeback of both artists and festival-goers.

Having been recognized by the organizers as an electronic music festival fan (this year alone, I had the opportunity to attend EDC Las Vegas (USA), Ultra Europe in Split (Croatia) and Tomorrowland in Boom (Belgium), they invited me to come experience the MDL Beast in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to share it with our numerous readers.

For transparency: the invitation included 2 tickets for 3 days of the festival which offered access to the different « Premium » sections of the Festival, including the Premium parking. No other expenses were covered by MDL Beast (airfare, hotel, etc.). For information on how we put together our itinerary, check out my introduction to this trip!

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Legendary DJ Steve Aoki rocks SOUNDSTORM-s Dance Tent

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – History

MDL Beast is a music entertainment company looking to grow the regional scene, created after the success of the first Soundstorm festival in 2019.

Soundstorm is organized in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the largest musical, artistic and cultural festival in the region, bringing together world stars and regional talents.

To give you an order of magnitude: more than 600,000 people attended the 3 days of the festival in 2022! These figures are similar to those of the biggest world festivals of the genre, such as EDC Las Vegas or Tomorrowland.

And world records have even been broken, giving you an idea of the gigantism of Soundstorm like :

  • The highest stage (temporary) with more than 41 meters high
  • The most LED lights displayed on a single stage: 60 million
  • The largest area of LED lights displayed on the Big Beast stage: 4,000 square meters (and this stage is over 200 meters wide)
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - A daily crowd of more than 100,000 people have descended on Banban

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – The scenes

During the three nights of the festival (4pm to 3am), 200 artists performed on 7 stages:

  • Big Beast
  • Down Beast
  • Dance Beast
  • 4 Underground scenes

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Big Beast

Big Beast is the main stage. The one that holds multiple world records.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - More than 600,000 fans attended this year-s SOUNDSTORM festival

Considering the visual effects, the fireworks (and the loudness of the speakers), I advise you to take a step back. You will appreciate the show much better!

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 05

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Dance Beast

Dance Beast is a gigantic tent transformed into a nightclub.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 40

The visual effects are also incredible and the sound quality is remarkable.

And we had no trouble being on the front lines!

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 42

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Down Beast

Down Beast is a scene where we didn’t spend much time: the music played was more Rap than Electronic Music.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Down Beast

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Underground

The Underground area is broken down into 4 stages where well known artists of the Electro House scene like Carl Cox and other artists worth to be known.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 17

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Scenery

On the Soundstorm site, circus artists perform for the enjoyment of festival-goers.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - A stilt performer wows the crowds on arrival at SOUNDSTORM
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 52
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 53
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 54

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Artists

Most of the best Electronic Music artists were present at this edition of Soundstorm 2022 such as :

  • Swedish House Mafia
  • Tiesto
  • David Guetta
  • DJ Snake
  • Marshmello
  • Timmy Trumpet
  • Lost Frequencies
  • And many more
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Swedish House Mafia during their headline Friday night performance at SOUNDSTORM

There were even stars outside of electronic music like Bruno Mars.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - US star Bruno Mars wowed the corwd with his Saturday slot on the Big Beast stage

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Media Room

Thanks to our media invitations, we had access to the Press Room.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 43

We got to see in press conference David Guetta and Morten about Future Rave.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Guetta and MORTEN at their Future Rave press conference at SOUNDSTORM
Istanbul, Riyadh, Doha: History, Electronic Music and Football World Cup - Soudstorm 41

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – The Organization

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Installations

Soundstorm is massive. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 11

For members who have purchased premium tickets, fly over walkways over the crowd allows for faster travel. Here at the very beginning of the evening:

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 22
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 44

In the Premium section, on the side of the Big Beast stage, several levels are available (rice field type) where you can find sofas, poufs, tables. Confortably ensconced to see the light effects of this incredible scene:

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 04
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 10
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 45

Bars – with non-alcoholic cocktails – are also available:

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 09

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Food and Beverages

In the alleys of the Soundstorm 2022 festival, more than 100 food and drink stands were available.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 14
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 07
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 28
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 27

Being used to festivals, I have to say that Soundstorm has set the bar very high in terms of the quality of the food available, equaling (if not exceeding) what can be found at Tomorrowland (renowned in this field).

And what was especially nice at Soundstorm: almost no waiting for food and drink. Both in the General and Premium sections.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Payment on site

It has become the norm for most electronic music festivals: only electronic payments by credit card are allowed at Soundstorm.

I had no trouble using my Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite +* Card registered on Apple Pay to pay for my various drinks within the Soundstorm festival.

This credit card has no conversion fee into foreign currency, which avoids the 2.5% fee charged by most other credit cards in Canada.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 38
Annual fee
$150
Our valuation
$350
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With the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite +* Card, you earn 3 points per $1 spent at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland and participating Co-ops, and 2 points per $1 spent at other grocery stores, restaurants, eligible entertainment and eligible daily transit. You earn 1 point per $1 on all your other everyday purchases.

These points can be redeemed against any travel purchase at a rate of 1,000 points = $10 (flights, hotels, all-inclusives and even Airbnb), or as cash back with Scene+ at the same rate.

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Annual fee

Primary card$150
Additional card$50

Annual income required

Individual$60,000
Household$100,000

Conversion fees

0%

Earning rate

  • 2xGroceries
  • 2xRestaurants
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  • 1xAll spending

Value

1st Year Value$650
2nd Year Value$397

Card benefits

Concierge service24/7
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Travel insurance

Travel medical (under 55)Up to $1,000,000 / 25 days
Travel medical (55-64)Up to $1,000,000 / 25 days
Travel medical (65+)Up to $1,000,000 / 3 days
Trip CancellationUp to $1,500
Trip InterruptionUp to $2,500
Delayed BaggageUp to $1,000
Lost BaggageUp to $1,000
Flight DelayUp to $500
Hotel BurglaryUp to $1,000
Travel AccidentUp to $500,000

Purchase protection

Purchase ProtectionIncluded
Extended Warranty+1 years
Auto Rental CollisionUp to $65,000 / 48 days

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Sponsors

Porsche, Pepsi, Adidas: many sponsors had booths throughout the Soundstorm Festival. With prizes to be won and goodies offered.

Here, Soundstorm takes example on Tomorrowland (where a BMW stand was present).

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 25

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Fireworks

Those who have attended EDC Las Vegas know: the fireworks at the end of the evening are extraordinary.

Well, the Soundstorm ones are on the same level! At the end of the evening, fireworks set the sky on fire from the main stage Big Beast, but also from the other stages at the same time.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - SOUNDSTORM 2022 bows out with a bang after three incredible days
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 32

Long minutes of explosion in the sky accompanying the main tracks of the artists present (respectively DJ Snake, Swedish House Mafia and David Guetta on the 3 nights).

Check out my story on Instagram to relive the event.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 66

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Access and Parking

Contrary to other festivals that have set up Bus Shuttles (Tomorrowland, EDC Las Vegas), here Soundstorm made the bet of the all-car.

Parking lots are simply gigantic (and included with the festival ticket).

It takes about 45 minutes to reach the site (or to leave it) from downtown Riyadh.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 01

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022 – Security

Another strong point of the organization: security. Not having attended the previous editions, it is difficult for me to compare.

Soundstorm ran a campaign called« Respect & Reset« , dedicated to improving this aspect that could be lacking in the first few editions.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 02

During Soundstorm 2022, I didn’t see any overflow: security guards sent by the organization were numerous and very visible on all the stages. Some even dancing with the festival-goers. And offering free bottled water to the front row!

The atmosphere was good-natured. And it must be mentionned that the absence of alcohol (or other substances…) helps to avoid some of the excesses that we see elsewhere.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 29
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 20

Bottom Line

Conjugating Saudi Arabia with an Electronic Music Festival may seem strange at first. But I was VERY pleasantly surprised by Soundstorm:

  • A world-class organization
  • Quality artists
  • Incredible scenes

It remains now to convince the female gender to attend the event. In the Premium section, a certain parity was visually achieved, but the General section was almost exclusively composed of young men.

But that’s part of the game, especially for a country that is opening up more and more to foreign tourists from the region (United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon) and internationally.

MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Some of the first arrivals at the three-day festival
MDL Beast Soundstorm 2022: a world-class music festival - Soudstorm 37

The next edition of Soundstorm will take place on December 7, 8 and 9, 2023. If you want to participate, you can already buy your tickets here.

  • General Admission: 149 SAR (approximately $55)
  • Premium admission: 1,129 AR (about $410)
  • VIB Admission: SAR 3,349 (approximately $1,220)

Personally, to fully enjoy the Soundstorm festival, I suggest getting the Premium version.

Annual fee
$150
Our valuation
$350
Milesopedia first-year estimateFirst-year valueWelcome bonus$350Total$350Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
Welcome offer
Up to 35,000 points
Ends Nov 1, 2026
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on Scotiabank's website

With this welcome offer for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite +* Card +* CardMC, you’ll earn 25,000 welcome bonus Scene+ points after charging $2,000 in purchases to your account within the first three months.

Plus, every year, earn an annual bonus of at least 10,000 Scene+ points when you charge at least $40,000 in purchases to your account. In total, the offer represents up to 35,000 Scene+ points and a value of up to $1,250 in the first year, including rewards, savings on foreign transaction fees and airport lounge access.

With the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite +* Card, you earn 3 points per $1 spent at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland and participating Co-ops, and 2 points per $1 spent at other grocery stores, restaurants, eligible entertainment and eligible daily transit. You earn 1 point per $1 on all your other everyday purchases.

These points can be redeemed against any travel purchase at a rate of 1,000 points = $10 (flights, hotels, all-inclusives and even Airbnb), or as cash back with Scene+ at the same rate.

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite +* Card also offers:

  • No fees for foreign currency transactions
  • 6 complimentary airport VIP lounge passes
  • Excellent insurance for your travels and purchases
  • Visa Infinite* Concierge Services

We have named this credit card the Best Credit Card with No Foreign Transaction Fees in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Annual fee

Primary card$150
Additional card$50

Annual income required

Individual$60,000
Household$100,000

Conversion fees

0%

Earning rate

  • 2xGroceries
  • 2xRestaurants
  • 2xTransit
  • 2xEntertainment
  • 1xAll spending

Value

1st Year Value$650
2nd Year Value$397

Card benefits

Concierge service24/7
Airport lounge access$240

Travel insurance

Travel medical (under 55)Up to $1,000,000 / 25 days
Travel medical (55-64)Up to $1,000,000 / 25 days
Travel medical (65+)Up to $1,000,000 / 3 days
Trip CancellationUp to $1,500
Trip InterruptionUp to $2,500
Delayed BaggageUp to $1,000
Lost BaggageUp to $1,000
Flight DelayUp to $500
Hotel BurglaryUp to $1,000
Travel AccidentUp to $500,000

Purchase protection

Purchase ProtectionIncluded
Extended Warranty+1 years
Auto Rental CollisionUp to $65,000 / 48 days

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Annual fee

Primary card$120
Additional card$0

Annual income required

Individual$0
Household$0

Conversion fees

2.5%

Earning rate

  • 5xMarriott Bonvoy hotels
  • 2xAll spending

Value

1st Year Value$1,437
2nd Year Value$312

Travel insurance

Delayed BaggageUp to $500
Lost BaggageUp to $500
Flight DelayUp to $500
Hotel BurglaryUp to $500
Travel AccidentUp to $500,000

Purchase protection

Purchase ProtectionIncluded
Extended Warranty+1 years
Auto Rental Collision (primary)Up to $85,000 / 48 days

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