DUBAI // A slew of high-profile concerts were cancelled as a result of the three-day mourning period announced in the UAE to honour the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Friday night’s free concert by the German-based world music ensemble Tabadoul Orchestra, at the Abu Dhabi Theatre, and Sunday’s Dubai date at the Madinat Theatre have both been shelved, a statement released by organisers, the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region, and the German embassy of the UAE, said.
The Dubai Shopping Festival also announced “the cessation of all entertainment and musical activities” until Monday, a statement said.
This means Friday night’s Kuwaiti double bill of Abdallah Al Rowaishid and Nawal El Kuwaitia will not take place.
Also scrapped is the debut UAE performance and album launch by independent Lebanese artist Tania Saleh, which was to be held as part of the shopping festival’s OTB Market Place showcase at South Ridge Park in Downtown Dubai on Friday.
The festival concert series will resume next weekend with its final two concerts. On Thursday, Palestine’s Mohammed Assaf will team up with the Emirati-Lebanese starlet Diana Hadid. The following night the UAE superstar Hussain Al Jaimi and Iraqi crooner Kadim Al Sahir pair up for the final performance.
The mourning period has also affected the emirate of Sharjah, which has been a hive of musical activity of late. Friday night’s much anticipated charity concert by acclaimed Lebanese singer Majida El Roumi at the new Al Majaz Amphitheatre has been rescheduled for Monday night (January 26).
Meanwhile, the fate of the second Sharjah World Music Festival, which was due to end on Sunday, remains up in the air.
The event’s organisers, the Sharjah Investment Development Authority (Shurooq) and Furat Qaddouri Music Centre, have indefinitely postponed the remaining two dates at the Flag Island Amphitheatre on Saturday and Sunday, which was due to feature Syrian jazz singer Lena Chamamyan and Lebanese folk singer Oumeima El Khalil, respectively.
It remains to be seen whether these concerts will go ahead with new dates or whether this year’s edition of the festival has ended prematurely.
A string of other events have yet to officially announce whether they will go ahead on Friday night.
They include the Sangam – A World Music Confluence concert, featuring Grammy award-winning Indian maestro Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt, at Dubai’s Madinat Theatre, and the sold-out comedy show Desi Laughs, with AIB and Abish Mathew, at the the Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre.
One performance presently set to go ahead on Friday night, however, is the Jashn-E-Ishq sufi music concert at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, featuring Pakistani singer Abida Parveen.
When a fan inquired on the event’s Facebook page if the concert would be cancelled, the page administrator replied “It’s on, not cancelled.”
sasaeed@thenational.ae
