Five things we learnt from Saudi Arabia's 2024 Soundstorm festival, featuring Eminem, Linkin Park and Zeyne

Riyadh music event continues to bring the big names and break world records

Eminem emerged from the stage wearing a coffin and gripping a chainsaw. All photos by MDL Beast

Pop-star Camila Cabello performs on the main Big Beast stage

Eminem performs with sidekick Mr Porter

Egypt's Ahmad Saad performed with a large dance troupe

Guitarist and rapper Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park

All female Saudi rock band Seera

Iraqi singer Majid Al Muhandis at the Big Beast stage

Singer Emily Armstrong performing with Linkin Park

Algeria's DJ Snake played a late night set in Soundstorm

US rapper G-Eazy headlined the Down Beast stage on Friday

Egyptian singer Bayou at Soundstorm festival in Riyadh

Saudi rapper Asayel feeling at home at Soundstorm

Palestinian-Jordanian singer Zeyne delivered a set packed with slick choreography.

Lebanese pop-star Elissa performs at Soundstorm

Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Riyadh's Soundstorm festival has grown to become one of the biggest music festivals in the Middle East and a major drawcard for artists making their debut performances in the kingdom.

This year was no different, with Eminem and Linkin Park headlining the event, which ended on Saturday, and welcomed about 200,000 people over three days. In addition to the big names, Soundstorm is also becoming a platform to showcase established and rising Mena acts, spanning genres from hip-hop to rock.

Here are five things we learned from this year’s event.

1. Linkin Park is stepping forward with new line-up

Linkin Park is back with a fresh and brawny sound. That's the key takeaway from their debut Saudi performance as part of the opening day of Soundstorm.

Such was the influence, both in the studio and on stage, of lead singer Chester Bennington that it was difficult to conceive of the band moving on following his death. But their decision to continue and recruit singer Emily Armstrong from Dead Sara has proven to be an inspired choice.

Not only is this year's comeback album From Zero a solid outing, but the band's stage show is powerful and messy in the best way. While Armstrong is more than capable of channelling the rage that powers hits such as One Step Closer and Faint, it's how the band delivers them that is interesting.

The guitars sounded gnarlier and the playing loose, with a welcome disregard for sounding painstakingly pristine as in previous tours. It all makes for a kinetic and joyful set fans will experience when the group embarks on an extensive world tour in January.

2. Eminem seals debut Gulf tour with epic final show

It was big enough for even the normally taciturn Eminem to pause the show. Pointing to the 100,000 people watching him on the main stage on Thursday, he said: "Man, this could be the biggest crowd I’ve ever played to".

Eminem repaid that enthusiasm with a strong set that saw him iron out any kinks from his Abu Dhabi show earlier this month, which was slightly marred by him nearly losing his voice a third of the way through. By the time he arrived in Riyadh, following a Bahrain show on Tuesday, he was in fine form, delivering a set full of hits, old favourites, and some new tracks from this year’s album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace).

The biggest talking point of the shows, and probably of those to come when Eminem hits the road next year, is his stage entrance – he emerges from a coffin wearing a hockey mask and wielding a chainsaw – recalling the on-stage antics of his Anger Management tour in the early 2000s. While the shock factor of that era is gone, it's good to see Slim Shady still reaching out to new audiences more than two decades on.

3. Saudi all-female rock band Seera make an impression at Soundstorm

Talk about making an entrance – in only two years, during which they’ve played a handful of official gigs, all-female Saudi rock band Seera triumphantly performed at Soundstorm on Thursday.

Playing on the second Down Beast stage, ahead of Thirty Seconds to Mars and The Roots, the four-piece band used the opportunity to showcase their recently released album, Al Mojallad Al Awal (Volume 1).

With songs veering from the abrasive to the ethereal, Seera's inclusion in the mega festival in their home city is another reminder of the kingdom's bold new music and event landscape.

4. Regional artists prove their worth

Months after releasing the regional viral hit Asli Ana, Palestinian-Jordanian singer Zeyne’s 20-minute set served as a preview and confirmation of her burgeoning talent. Flanked by six dancers, she made the most of the brief running time with songs defining her approach of marrying Levant-inspired Arab pop with various styles.

Months after performing at the US festival Coachella as a guest of Palestinian-American singer Saint Levant, Bayou also held his own with a solo set at Soundstorm.

His fluent bilingual take on RnB, melding old-school Egyptian romantic balladry with modern pop production, resonated with the crowd, particularly in the zippy single Haifa Wehbe and the bruised heartbreaker Bansa Haly.

5. Soundstorm breaks more records

Move over, Adele – the Soundstorm festival now holds the title for the largest concert LED screen.

According to the Guinness World Records, the festival was home to the Largest Continuous Outdoor LED Screen (Temporary), reportedly spanning 4,808.84 square meters. It was enough to overtake the previous record held by Adele during her series of outdoor concerts in Munich this year.

The record is one of a growing number that Soundstorm has amassed over the past five years. This includes the tallest stage from its inaugural 2019 edition. In 2022, it also broke the record for having the most flame projections – 112 – launched simultaneously during a music concert.