What you missed @ Sandance Dubai 2013

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE!! I yelled as soon as I found out they were going to be the headlining act to mark the end of the Sandance season as we welcome the hot, summer months in Dubai. Even before they could release the names of the supporting acts I was already out the door to pick up my early bird tickets a month in advance and couldn't wait to go see the angelic Florence Welch in the flesh!

Fast forward a couple of days and I'm stuck in traffic at the Palm Jumeirah but I wouldn't let that affect my mood being as I was so giddy with excitement. Not only had I paid early bird prices to see the my favourite band but their supporting act was Keane, another great band who have performed in Dubai before but I was unable to attend their previous concert. So being stuck in traffic would be worth it once I got to the venue, right? WRONG

Surprisingly, we were able to find parking easily at the venue even though it was a little far it didn't phase us. Already late for Keane's set I felt the buzz of walking up to the gate while listening to them play one of their many hit songs (what's funny is they ALL sound the same). Once we got all our tickets sorted we dashed to the bar to get our drinks and enjoyed Keane's mellow music. I was glad I didn't miss out on Somewhere Only We Know and Everybody's Changing which are two of my favourite Keane songs. So far, the night was going
well, the crowd seemed to be as excited as I was. Once Keane was done with their performance our goal was to keep moving to the front when Florence + The Machine started.

During this time, Idris Elba (you might know him from the Wire and hey he's also a DJ) began his set and I didn't really know what was happening during this time. I was so confused by his music and he looked even more puzzled on stage. But the crowd was cheering so that means they were enjoying it (either that, or they were pretty much tipsy on the excessive amount of alcohol).

Then comes Florence + The Machine after what felt like ages. Don't get me wrong, they didn't make us wait! They were on time for the performance but throughout the entire concert I couldn't believe that I was actually there and going to see them live! My excitement started from the moment they brought her harp onto the stage :D I can still feel exactly what I felt then!  My excitement was put on a back burner throughout their set though. By the time Florence came on people were already quite drunk and were constantly talking really loudly and weren't even paying attention to the set. What's worse is that most of these people were right next to us. It was already a packed gig and everyone seemed to want to squish to the front to get a good view of the band, which is fine if they actually concentrated on the gig and let everyone around them enjoy too. People just seemed to want to started arguments which totally deterred from the concert we were all looking forward to. Florence sang most of the songs of her new album and even though I wasn't familiar with them I was still on such a high just knowing I was in her presence!

Once they were done, people started to rush away from the stage and this allowed us some room to breathe. We were present when the announcement was made for the next Sandance gig to open the new season in Oct. The Killers, Of Monsters & Men and the Wailers are the headlining acts for the gig and I was 100% sure I was going to attend to see the Killers! Another great act whose concert I had missed before.

Moving out of the concert, we were stuck in traffic for an hour in the parking lot itself. Sadly, all the memories I have of the concert are bad ones (as you can read, I've written this blog a month after the concert). Bad organization and this is the first gig I've been to where VIP ticket holders are seated in areas far away from the front of the stage and the only thing that makes them a 'VIP' is the close proximity to the bar. It feels good paying a small amount of money and then being able to move up right to the front (first come first serve) but it isn't worth it if it ruins the experience of the concert for everyone.

So the big question is, will I be attending Sandance in October? The answer is a definite No (unless I get freebies, because who would ignore freebies?) Its alright if you're there just for the drinks and not interested in the concert one bit but why would you spend money if you're not there for the music? Why not just go to a bar?

Sorry for the horrible pictures! Was too crowded and didn't want to risk dropping my camera