Courtesy of Nick England The Prodigy playing at the 2007 Desert Rock festival in March.

Days before the actual concert, the city was buzzing with excitement. And it wasn’t long before most conversations turned enthusiastically to music, with the inevitable question: “Did you manage to get a ticket?”
Local radio stations even held competitions for the most bizarre alleged sighting of the band – including one that claimed they were seen borrowing historical novels in the local public lending library. And the most pessimistic of the population, as usual, predicted “terrible traffic and over-hype.”

Ultimately, the event, which saw Aerosmith fly into Dubai for their much-awaited concert on May 31st, was of course, a highly celebrated moment for the entertainment industry in the small, Gulf emirate.

But it was by no means an isolated feat, because in the past decade, against all the odds, the United Arab Emirates has hosted an astonishing number of international music megastars.
These accomplishments include sell-out concerts by John Meyer, Enrique Iglesias, Blondie, Chuck Berry, Lionel Richie (twice) 50 Cent, Pink Floyd, Mariah Carey, Incubus, Three Doors Down, Whitney Houston, The Prodigy and Shakira – just to name a few.

Of course, there have been several concert casualties along the way as a result of both personal and political strife. For example, in 1994, Michael Jackson disappeared off to Brazil a week before the concert date following certain allegations. Then, Boyz to Men cancelled their 1998 show 24 hours before curtain-up amid security fears, and more recently, there was the non-starter pulled by J-Lo in 2006.

But all these pitfalls are just part of the job says Padma Coram, managing partner of Talent Broker; the U.A.E.’s oldest promoting company.

“You have to be in this business for the right reasons to be able to stomach it,” she states bluntly. “You have to be passionate about promoting – and have the funding, because bringing big acts to Dubai is not an easy task.”

Quite apart from the risk of big stars canceling in the final hour, Dubai has no equipped venues to host concerts, suffers from “sky-high” insurance premiums and has the emirate’s geographical location to contend with.

“I’d say the lack of venue was the most difficult challenge though,” says Coram, who likens turning empty spaces into concerts to “re-building and re-furnishing a totally gutted house just so you can live in it for a week.”

Coram explains; “Its very irritating because instead of being able to do my job to maximum success, I have to spend the majority of my time sorting out public toilets, stage construction, lighting, filming, power, sound, parking, safety issues and everything else you have to do to turn a non-venue into a live concert.”

And, she adds, “Because there is no purpose-built venue, unfortunately, a lot of the equipment here and ultimately the shows themselves are not always as well put-together as they could be.”
But despite some negative whining in the local press, Dubai’s concert circuit is far from floundering. In fact, the city has now become internationally recognized for its vibrant music scene which includes an annual Jazz Festival and the Desert Rock festival held every March.

Jackie Wartanian, owner of Center Stage Management (CSM), the promoters for Desert Rock, which is the biggest event of its kind in the Middle East, has experienced unprecedented success since she started it just four years ago. What began as an afternoon and evening shindig with an audience of just 3,000 - has become a two-day full on festival attended by a 30,000-strong crowd.

Rock heavyweights such as The Bravery, Metallica and Iron Maiden have played there, as well as the quirkier bands including The Prodigy, and The Darkness.

“Now it’s a global event,” says Wartanian, of Desert Rock. “People fly in for it especially and it’s grown at an amazing rate.”

But she points out that Dubai’s current concert climate is also a casualty of its own success. “There are so many events happening now and there is a small population, so audiences have to pick and choose which artist they want to go and see. Secondly, not everyone does it [organizes concerts] properly. There are often safety and transportation issues.”

However, despite the pitfalls, Wartanian is determined to continue bringing big acts to Dubai, the next of which, will be Joss Stone, who, if all goes to plan, will hold a concert in October.

“It is still a small market, but with all the tourism here, there is a huge amount of energy, and the population is young too,” she adds.

And, says Coram, “If you can do it [promoting] successfully in Dubai, you can do it anywhere.”
She adds, “Look at the situation. Here we are, trying to persuade the world’s biggest names in music, to take at least four days out of their busy schedules to play one concert to a comparatively tiny audience in a Middle Eastern country.

“From the band’s perspective, it’s not like a U.S. tour date, where they could play 20 shows, each one to huge audiences, in 20 days. Yes, it’s very expensive to bring them here, but it’s all relative at the end of the day.”

And, Coram points out, for the Dubai crowds the concert experience can be totally unique. “A lot of these artists are used to playing to hundreds of thousands of people – where as in Dubai, they might only play to 25,000. But for the audience, that intimate experience can be very positive and worth paying for.”