The last-minute cancellation of Kiss's Dubai concert has left many fans in the region upset and disappointed, especially in the face of no explanation or official statement.
On Wednesday, organisers announced the US rock band weren't coming, merely two days before their anticipated gig at Coca-Cola Arena. The show was meant to be a stop on their End of the Road world tour – their final tour. The Dubai leg was the only stop in the Middle East.
Ayrton Ferraz Stoman, 28, is from Johannesburg, South Africa, but lives in Dubai. He describes himself as an “avid member of the Kiss Army”. He splurged on a VIP pass that included a meet-and-greet, photos, autographs, soundcheck experience and limited-edition merchandise.
“My devotion to this band runs deep – during my time in art school, I emulated their iconic messy black hair look every day because they are, in every sense, my heroes,” he says. “As a token of my anticipation, I even splurged on a pair of big leather platform boots and silver chains for the show, aiming to channel their iconic style.”
However, their sudden cancellation ended Stoman’s opportunity to meet the band, who are due to finish the tour in New York’s Madison Square Garden in December.
“The situation is even more disheartening given the abrupt cancellation without any explanation from the band or the organisers,” he adds. “There was no apology, no reasoning offered, leaving me to speculate. I am overwhelmed with sadness and profound disappointment.”
He isn’t the only upset fan. Vinicius Nascimento, 29, even flew his mother in from Brazil for it. The Dubai resident has been a fan since he was 13. This week's show would've marked his 20th time seeing them live.
“Of course, I’m really upset, as it’s the first rock band I ever liked, still as a teenager,” he says. "I bought my ticket on the first day sales opened and was really looking forward to finally seeing my favourite band in the city where I live."
I was beyond angry. They’re heartless for doing this very last minute.
Lissa from Lebanon
It was only when his mother landed the pair found out about the cancellation.
“Although I live here, I bought a ticket for my mom as well who is also a fan, and she came all the way from Brazil only for the concert, so that’s upsetting," he says. "I’ve also seen a lot of people who came to the concert from other countries, so the last-minute cancellation is the worst part.”
He adds: “And the band has not given any sort of explanation or apology, which is not cool at all, and I would say even disrespectful to the fans.”
Lissa flew in from Lebanon for the gig, but has been left “extremely disappointed”. She spent her savings and even arranged for her children to be with family to attend.
It wasn’t until after she arrived in Dubai to see them for the first time that Lissa, a fan since her teenage years, found out.
“I was beyond angry," she says. "They’re heartless for doing this very last minute.
“It’s ridiculous, it just shows they don’t care about us fans at all and they just lost us as a majority. They’re selfish for this, because let’s face it, it’s their last show and they won’t care much for it if they cancel a few.”
She says she’s also met fans who were going to attend the gig who feel the same way.
“I’ve engaged with people who flew to Dubai to find this out too late like my situation," she adds.
"We are not made of money and it would have saved us all if they said this weeks in advance. We are all extremely disappointed."
Although there's been no word on about a rescheduled Dubai gig, which appears unlikely for now, fans are still trying to make the best of it.
Nascimento took his mother to visit Coca-Cola Arena anyway.
"We went to the arena just to take photos as she wanted to have memories of the venue the concert was supposed to happen at," he says.
Stoman is resigned to the fact he will probably not see them before they retire.
"It is actually impossible for me to see them again," says Stoman. "After the Dubai date I think they close their show in America, which is the last of the tour. I can't just stop my life to fly to America."
Despite the disappointment, he still holds the group dearly in his heart.
"I hope they are well and healthy and that it wasn't cancelled because they were ill," he adds. "I would also express how much I love them, how much they mean to me. I would thank them for their years of dedication to their craft."
"They are such an iconic group and I think they would have loved to meet me too," he says jokingly. "In a way, they also missed out on an amazing show in Dubai. They would have loved it."
After Wednesday's announcement, Thomas Ovesen, chief executive of promoters All Things Live Middle East, shared his disappointment with fans.
“We were so excited to welcome Kiss to the Coca-Cola Arena on Friday,” he told The National. “We know they are a band that loves to play for their fans and would never not do a show if there was a possible way to perform.
"So we wish them very well and we are as disappointed as the entire Kiss Army and the rock 'n' roll fans in the region.”
Kiss have not commented since their social media accounts were updated.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
