The Sunday Mail
Scenes at the 10-hour electro dance music fiesta held at the Nelson Mandela hall at the Exhibition Park
GLOBAL trends in popular music are always changing and it is common at any given period to have a genre that would be more dominant than the others.
Closer home, Zim dancehall seems to have griped a significant audience of late but internationally r & b and hip-hop, usually hyped by music video channels like MTV, Trace and Channel O, among others, is still dominant.
And of late the electro dance music (EDM) craze has been gaining a lot of ground on the global stage and this has seen a huge chunk of artistes from various genres embracing this particular sound and incorporating it in some of their songs.
The likes of Calvin Harris, Diplo, Martin Garrix, David Guetta, DJ Snake and Skrillex, to mention a few top EDM DJs, have been collaborating with numerous artistes from other genres to produce instant smash-hits.
The local entertainment scene has not been left out in this evolution, with the increasing number of EDM festivals being organised, reflecting on the growing popularity of the culture.
Last Saturday the Nelson Mandela Hall at Harare Show Grounds was turned into one massive party as 11 local and international DJ acts mashed it up at the first edition of Electric Arena, an indoor EDM festival that was created by events company, Electric Concepts.
With a line up comprising of top South African DJs Kyle Worde, Saubomb, the duo of Rocca and Martini with the headline act being Pascal and Pearce the night was set to be explosive.
The local DJs who included Bhana, Stilo, Ray Dizz and Rob Macson held their own, dishing out exceptional performances. EDM gigs are usually characterised by mesmerising lighting sequences, which complement the base pounding sounds and this proved to be order of the day at the Electric Arena, with the organisers having gone to great lengths to ensure a high voltage atmosphere.
Although the venue was not filled to capacity, which could be attributed to cold fears, the crowd was not that bad for a first time event and people were in high spirits, dancing the night away as the DJs kept the tempo on a high unleashing both original compositions and international hits.
The Sunday Mail Leisure caught up with Electric Concepts co-founder Rob Macson who shared his view on the concert as well as the local EDM culture in general.
“This was definitely a success with the response we got considering that this is our first time hosting such a big event. You could see that the stage work, the arena itself, the performances and even the organisation was on point,” said Macson.
The event will be held every year, serving the company’s mandate of promoting EDM culture in the country.
“EDM influence has been growing the world over, which is why I think this event is going to be bigger and better next year.
“We will also be hosting smaller events throughout the year at which we will be inviting other international acts to also come and perform.”
He went on to say that the EDM culture on the local entertainment scene has been growing over the years.
“I have been a DJ for a long time and over the years I have realised that more and more people are beginning to appreciate the culture.”
This year has already seen a successful EDM festival being held in the country and this was in the form of Sonic Wonderland, held at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa).
The Hifa show featured top DJ acts from Europe, Bassjackers and Blinders as well as local DJs Jason Le Roux and Ray Dizz. Another local company, Hidden Culture has established itself as one of the regional leaders in dance music event concepts.
Founded in 2005, they have created events like Sushi Sundays, Skinny Republic and Neverland Zimbabwe among others.
Neverland Zimbabwe, which is held every December, is the biggest EDM festival in the country attracting thousands of music lovers over a two day period. This year’s edition will be held on December 18 and 19.
Hidden Culture creative director Jason Le Roux also went on to attribute the growth of EDM on the local scene to radio programming, which accommodates the genre among other things.
“The crowd has been growing dramatically, especially over the past two years and I think this is because of “Hidden Culture on Air” every Saturday night on ZiFM Stereo, local large scale electronic events and a general global new-found awareness of electronic music.
“I think the growth of EDM in Zimbabwe is fantastic, since it does not only tell the world that Zimbabwe is currently ready and open to tourism but with our large scale events and concepts, we are one of the leaders on the continent when it comes to this genre,” said Le Roux.
With the increasing number of local EDM DJs and producers who are gaining exposure on the international scene, the genre has a huge potential to bloom.
