Comedian, heart throb and reality TV host-turned-unexpected mouthpiece for a generation of politically dispossessed Western youth, Russell Brand, has hinted that his famously-cancelled Abu Dhabi gigs may be back on the cards.
The British comedian’s 2013 Messiah Complex tour was due to open with two nights at Abu Dhabi’s Du Forum last August, with a further Middle East gig planned in Beirut, but both the Abu Dhabi and Beirut gigs were cancelled.
Brand himself told the BBC at the time that the cancellation was due to fears for his safety, telling BBC Radio 5’s Richard Bacon: “Those gigs have been banned, pulled because of threats from extremists that if I went there there would be problems. The venues contacted us to say ‘we can no longer guarantee your safety’.”
Thomas Oveson, COO of Done Events, which was promoting the Abu Dhabi gigs, however, hinted that the content of Brand’s shows, which include iconoclastic references to religious and political figures including Ghandi and Jesus, may have been a more relevant factor in the no-show: “Until he tours a show appropriate for this market, I cannot see how it would work, nor how the authorities here would feel comfortable with it. I would be very surprised if this artist would himself be comfortable with doing his current show here.”
Now, in the latest edition of Brand’s YouTube show, The Trews, the comedian has suggested the door may still be open for a gig in the capital after all. In the August 5 edition, Brand addresses a fan who has emailed to ask him to come to Abu Dhabi. The fan, Frankie, insists that whoever warned him about his safety: “Does not know what they’re talking about.”
Brand, the former husband of US pop star Katy Perry, admits that he’d “still like to come”, although the wish is somewhat qualified: “They were saying they were going to kill me,” he says. “I’d still like come, but I’d like to do a show while I’m there. I’d happily come if I’m not killed.”
Many commentators at the time suggested the whole Middle East tour cancellation was a publicity stunt in the first place, and it must be said that the only evidence of death threats to Brand related to the UAE or Lebanon gigs we could find were his own references. Perhaps its time the comedian stopped talking about the gigs in the Middle East and came and did them, albeit a year late? He would make a lot of disappointed fans very happy.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
