Since it’s inception as a branch of the long-running night Freshly Laced, DUST has hosted hugely successful nights at Trilogy, Madinat Jumeirah, Jebel Ali Hotel Resort & Spa and Catwalk in Al Barsha. In their continuing pursuit to advance the music scene in the U.A.E. they are now planning a series of events at Dubai’s premier live music venue ‘The Music Room’ commencing February 2012.
The Beirut Groove Collective (BGC) was established in 2009 by two of Lebanon’s pioneer DJs - Ernesto Chahoud and Rami Obeid aka DJ Stickfiggr with the support of other artists such as Ramsay Short, VJ artist Nadim Saoma, filmaker Helena Forsell and painter/trombonist Tom Young aka Tom Bone.
At the time of its founding, Chahoud and Obeid knew that the musical offerings of this type were sparse, and mostly devoted to the more mainstream, commercial varieties of music. Certainly, there was no real appreciation of the rich musical heritage that made up the current fare of R&B and generic rap and jazz varieties played in clubs and on the corporate radio airwaves. Thus, with a little motivation and the help of a group of equally dedicated DJs and music connoisseurs, the BGC began a humble attempt to do something new in Beirut - organizing “house-party” events with a premium on utilizing alternative, community-oriented spaces as a means of drawing parallels to the underground funk and soul parties that used to occur in the major urban centers of America and Africa in the 1970s.
_“The Beirut Groove Collective pulled off one hell of a party at the Hammana park… Funk funk funk and nothing but the funk…” - Time Out, Beirut
"When will we get to party like this again?" - Beirut Beats_
When: Friday 17th February Where: The Music Room, Majestic Hotel, Bur Dubai
Capacity: 3-500 Genres: Hip hop, funk, soul, disco etc
Artists: The Beirut Groove Collective, DUST DJs (Megadon Betamax, DJ Solo, Mr Yeti, James Locksmith)
Target: Ages 21 – 40, 50/50 M/F split, Western / Arab / Asian Ticket cost: around € 10.60 (50 AED)
Photograph provided courtesy of Majestic Hotel Tower Dubai