By STEPHEN FARRELL AQABA,


Jordan - On a recent July evening eight kilometers north of Saudi Arabia, a mountaintop became home to Distant Heat, a nighttime marathon of electronic dance music in a Red Sea setting that would impress even the most jaded concertgoer.

From the stage you could see the coastal lights of the Egyptian Sinai across the Gulf of Aqaba; to the north the Israeli resort of Eilat was an illuminated cluster in the distance, and on the shoreline lay the Jordanian city of Aqaba. History is all around here. But for one night Jordanians, Lebanese, Iraqis, Saudis and Palestinians were interested only in dancing from dusk until dawn.

Their revels were orchestrated by imported European disc jockeys catering to a mostly Arab audience, though some Dutch, Italian and other Westerners stopped by. The event director, Julian Noursi, said the desert rave was meant to be “a place where open-minded people accept others, no matter what their differences, or cultures, or who they are or what they do.” Hundreds of revelers arrived with whoops of “Let’s party.” Many headed straight for the bars, where beer, vodka, whiskey and other drinks were served at a rapid pace.

Ferry Corsten, one of the star European D.J.’s, pronounced himself delighted . “It’s really nice to play in the Middle East because you really feel that the crowd wants this music so badly, because they read about it on the Internet, and they hear about it, and it’s still very rare,” Mr. Corsten said.

The audience reaction, he said, was noticeably different from those in other regions. In many places, he said, excitement builds slowly. Not so in the Arab world. “Whenever there’s a big record coming on, or a headliner D.J. or artist that they have been waiting for, as soon as it starts, the party’s on.” Security here is more intense than normal at such events, a reminder that even Jordan sometimes falls victim to the violence of the conflicts around it. This did not appear to trouble anyone at the show.

“I love trance music, and I couldn’t just miss it,” said Fahed Sa’ad, a 22-year-old Iraqi. The $100-plus cost of the tickets put the event far beyond the reach of many in the region, and there seemed to be a preponderance of urban, affluent young people. Hasan Badawi, a 20-year-old Jordanian, was one of the first in line. “Something like this is important because we don’t have many events like this over here,” he said. “So when there is an event like this, a big event, all the people come from around the Arab world just to have some fun and enjoy the music.”

But Arab partygoers have no problem spotting potential issues in conversations that could cause problems for them with conservative regimes in the countries where they live or work. “Sam, Sam, just Sam,” said one guest when asked his name. Dressed in a Tshirt with a picture of a dollar bill and a skull superimposed on the image of George Washington, he was happy to give his age, 24, and talk about drinking liquor, but not to reveal his name. Alexander Mieling, a German trance music D.J. and producer, spent much of the night dancing before volunteering to go back on for a post-dawn session that extended the music past the scheduled 5:30 a.m. finish.

“I like to mix it a little bit up, because the music has to be a journey,” he said. “It has to move up, now a little bit down, climax, move a little bit down, and then you see where you go.” Among the partygoers were Diane Vonk, 28, and her sister Berdine, 25, from Amsterdam. After moving with caution through the various cultural hazards of large Arab cities and smaller, more conservative towns, they felt able to throw off such concerns here in the desert.

“Everybody is here to party,” Diane Vonk said, shouting over the music . “If there are any differences here, you wouldn’t notice it.” Her sister added, “Everybody has the same goal, just to have a good night out.” Reflecting on what his and his colleagues’ music had to offer, Corsten, the Dutch D.J., said: “Music, especially electronic dance music, is universal. O.K., it has lyrics sometimes, but it’s not about the lyrics, it’s about the music, about the melody.

“It’s just a positive message, nothing has to be difficult in life if you don’t make it difficult. Here you can forget all about the daily life, misery and problems. It’s you and the music, that’s it.”