Idris Elba and Clean Bandit will top the bill at Dubai’s sophomore DXBeach festival.
International DJs Klingande, MistaJam and Mike Mago have also been confirmed for the October 23 event, hosted at a newly refurbished Zero Gravity.
If you’re wondering where you might have heard the two headliners before, the answer is Sandance; Clean Bandit played the final edition of the Atlantis festival this time last year, while Elba added a brief, ragtag DJ set to the May 2013 event.
Since that time however, Elba's reputation has continued to rapidly rise — as an actor at least — with ever-growing rumours tipping the Luther star to follow Daniel Craig as the next Bond. Also widely lauded for his title role in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Elba's recording career is yet to hit the same heady heights.
Elba's DXBeach appearance conveniently comes midway through his scheduled stay in town filming for Star Trek Beyond, alongside Simon Pegg.
Mixing live strings with house beats, Clean Bandit provided the tunes behind inaugural DXBeach headliner Jess Glynn; Rather Be and Just Love. You should also recognise hits Extraordinary and Stronger.
Rounding up the 15-hour bill is French big-name producer Klingande, whose omnipresent anthem Jubel is apparently among the 25 "most Shazam-ed" tracks ever — which presumably means everyone who hears it wants to know what it is, but can't quite remember the next time they hear it out.
Also booked to spin is BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Mistajam and Dutch deep house name Mike Mago.
With doors opening at noon, early arrivals can expect live music and DJ sets from local acts, watersports and free spa treatments, with international acts hitting the stage from “late afternoon” through to 3am.
The inaugural DXBeach attracted an audience of 5,000 in April, with Mark Ronson headlining. Read our review of the event here.
• Early bird tickets are priced at Dh200, with preregistration available now at www.dxbeach.ae. In addition Zero Gravity offers the DXBrunch from noon to 3pm, starting from Dh495. For reservations and VIP packages call 04 399 0009 or 055 500 9111.