Omar Souleyman in PAARD360

This was so much fun! Omar Souleyman's music has been on my radar for a little bit, and when I saw he was coming to The Netherlands for a concert on the once-a-year PAARD360-stage I had to go! Even though it's not my typical taste and I literally do not speak a word of Arabic besides "Habibi" and "Yallah", there's something mesmerizing about his mix of traditional dabke and modern electronic music.

I stood on the balcony and saw the people around the stage in this 360-degree setup have the time of their lives. Omar himself didn't actually do all that much besides singing, hyping the crowd up, and clapping along to the music, but that was more than enough to make it a fun evening.

Omar Souleyman on stage, receiving the energy from the crowd.

Omar Souleyman on stage, performing for a crowd that completely surrounds the square stage he and his DJ are on.

He even took entirely too much time to record a video on his phone of the crowd doing their thing, and texting it to someone. In the middle of the show. What a legend.