A band performs during the Big Day Out music festival held at the InterContinental hotel beach yesterday. PICTURES: Sheril Babu
By Peter Townson
Music fans enjoyed an eclectic mix of performances at the Big Day Out yesterday, where US rockers Hoobastank headlined a day of bands and artistes participating in Qatar’s first major music festival.
The event took place on the InterContinental hotel beach, where thousands of music lovers joined together to sing and dance the night away, despite the less than desirable weather conditions.
A lineup including international acts such as Toploader, Akcent, Aswad, Mashrou3 Leila and Tarek Sidani kept the crowd on their feet until the early hours of the morning, when they  heeded the advice of Toploader’s most famous hit and enjoyed dancing in the moonlight.
The day also gave the opportunity for a number of Qatar-based artistes to perform , and local favourites including United Rhythm Band, The Exiles, Green Color Thing, Keyali Mayaga, Trak, The Dust, Cronkite Satellite and Lorelie Loveridge, took to the stage throughout the afternoon and evening.
The festival, sponsored by Vodafone-Qatar, attracted a large crowd of fans despite the adverse weather conditions, proving that there is definitely an appetite for such events here.
The performances of a large selection of local bands proved that there is a burgeoning music scene in the country, with numerous bands simply searching for venues in which to play.