One Direction – made up of Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson – are set to bring the UAE to a shrieking standstill when they perform at the Dubai Sevens Stadium on April 4, 2015. The concert was announced by the promoters Done Events at a press conference in Dubai’s J W Marriott Marquis Hotel.
The darlings of Britain will arrive in the UAE as part of a new world tour called On the Road Again.
Their third and latest album Midnight Memories was released last November and began breaking records immediately. It has so far sold four million copies worldwide. The band, who have nearly 19 million followers on Twitter, are known to their tween fan-base simply as 1D.
Thomas Ovesen, the head of Done Events, clarified that 1D will only play one show. A second show is “out of the question”, said Ovesen. “It is not feasible, considering their schedule and the routing [of the tour]. This will be their only show.”
He said that although the concert is set so far in the future, that fans “should not let the lead-time fool you, I feel that this show will sell out. It’s a just a question of when”.
Referring to the furore surrounding Justin Bieber’s concert where his late appearance upset both fans (and their parents), Ovesen said: “I expect them to be on time.”
The witty video to the single, Best Song Ever, clocked up the most online views in a 24-hour period with 12.3 million last July (eventually eclipsed by Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball with 19.3 million views, the following month) in addition to being the fastest-selling album in Amazon's history.
The world tour generates similar excitement. Beginning in South America last month, the numerous open-air shows sold out within minutes. The boys are now preparing for a United Kingdom tour with three nights booked at London’s mammoth Wembley Stadium.
One Direction’s Dubai date will surely rival The Rolling Stones’ Abu Dhabi show at the du Arena in February and Justin Bieber’s two dates at the Sevens Stadium last May as one of the UAE’s biggest concerts ever. Just like those performances, expect a massive overseas contingent to fly into the country to see One Direction in the flesh.
Young fans are not averse to travelling for their idols. Last year, kids from all over the Middle East as well as India flew into Dubai to attend Bieber’s concerts.
Tickets will be available at www.doneevents.com (which seems to have crashed already!). Tickets go on sale on Thursday, May 22; eager fans can get their tickets at 6am from Virgin Megastore at Mall of the Emirates, Dubai; and at 8am at the Virgin Megastore branch in Abu Dhabi Mall. Ticket prices will begin at Dh250. Diamond tickets, which will have a front-stage view, will cost Dh1,000; only 7,500 of these will be available. Gold tickets are Dh500, Silver tickets are Dh300 and Bronze Dh250.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
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