The last big outdoor festival of the season, Blended brought a staggering array of international talent to our shores, gamely leaping between genres and eras with a mix of rock, funk, pop, soul, jazz and more. Hosted at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on Thursday and Friday, here’s what we learnt from two days of music.
The UAE is officially on the festival circuit
So often the land of the one-off seasonal special, we can take huge encouragement that the UAE is now officially enmeshed in the global festival circuit. That's what Jessie Ware reckons, anyway, she declared that playing at Blended was "a wicked way to start the festival season". Twice. Nice. Of course it's ironic that the rest of the world is getting ready for their own outdoor gig season just as ours draws to a close, but the upshot is that we can now look forward to many more top acts stopping by on their way to grander festivals in Europe and the US. So well done, Blended, for getting us on the map. For her part, Ware impressed this festival crowd with her smart, soulful electro-pop, winning over fans with her eccentric, endearing normal-ness. She closed on a tender note with radio ballad Say You Love Me.
Robin Thicke DID play you-know-what
Robin Thicke hasn't gigged since March, when a court ruled that he and Pharrell Williams should pay US$7.3 million [Dh27m] in royalties to Marvin Gaye's estate, ruling that they had ripped off the late soul legend with 2013's biggest song, Blurred Lines. So it's probably not a tune Thicke feels as fondly about as he did a few months back.
He got little sympathy from Blended's DJs, who appeared to be rubbing salt in the wound, dropping not one, but two Gaye songs in the lead-up to his set – What's Going On and Let's Get it On (not Got to Give it Up, though – that would have been plain cruel).
So when Thicke's set time was coming to a close, and he whipped out lukewarm covers of Michael Jackson's Rock With You and Al Green's Let's Stay Together, it seemed easy to conclude that he'd drawn a line and cut the track altogether. But no, it's probably in his contract that he has to play it, and so he did, struggling through the high bits, and ending his set collapsed dramatically atop his grand piano.
Kasabian know how to start a mosh pit
When was the last time you saw a mosh pit in the UAE? A sweaty, aggressive, primal clashing of bodies in front of a stage?
I’ve seen two. The first was when Kasabian played The Sevens Stadium in February 2012. The second was when the same band played Blended on Thursday night. And I’ve seen a lot of gigs in between.
Say what you want about these boys, but their ability to provoke a reaction is undeniable. Said reaction might depend on how you feel about moshpits – or the kind of dumbed-down, testosterone-fuelled tectonic rock that induces them.
Midway through thunderous opener Bumbleee, a fan pats, or rather thumps, me on the back and yells "are you ready for this mate?" Not really, pal, but the evening's tenor has been set. Stomping stalwarts Shoot the Runner, Underdog, Days are Forgotten and Clubfoot were dispensed with early, before the set climaxed with Fire (the one from the Premier League TV spots), and rounded off with a cover of Fatboy Slim's Praise You and the swagger of battle anthem L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever). It was big, and it wasn't clever. But by now, it was impossible not to be engaged.
In Craig David's head (and heart) it's still the early 2000s
It seems a lazy adage to say that any act who was big in the United Kingdom 10 years ago will go down a storm in the UAE, but unlike more surly artists, David was happy to play the nostalgia dance.
"I'm 33 now, there must be a lot of expats out there like me who look back on those days – remember the beanie?", he beamed, gamely whipping out stripped-back acoustic versions of the hits – Fill Me In, Rendezvous, Walking Away and 7 Days – the rap for which roused plenty of folk from their picnic blankets. David may not have released any fresh material in seven years but the hits worked surprisingly well in this unplugged format, and a humble and grateful David proved he's still got the moves and the chords. A UAE regular, when he promised to come back soon, you believed him.
Kool’s Gang can cartwheel
The long weekend ended in the best possible way with funk/soul/pop/disco legends Kool & the Gang, who vamped through an incredible setlist of 1980s pop smashes – kicking off with Fresh, Tonight, Joanna and Too Hot, and rounding off with Ladies' Night, Get Down on It and Celebration. Best of all was a mid-set workout on cherry-picked highs from their 1970s funk catalogue – Funky Stuff, Jungle Boogie and Hollywood Swinging. Sure, they were probably in better shape 20 years ago, but after celebrating 50 years as a band last year, the fact Kool & the Gang are still going strong is a sheer joy. They still count four founding members among their ranks, and a couple more who've been with them for decades. Among them is trumpet player Michael Ray, who rounded a show-stopping solo by cartwheeling across the stage. You don't catch Mick Jagger doing that.
rgarratt@thenational.ae