Mark McNulty Photography

And finally

Before I drag this one out too far I'm going to finish it, so this is the last photograph from Dubai and it's picture postcard time with a view across Madinat Jumeirah towards the Burj Al Arab. Hope you've enjoyed the work!

Dubai

As soon as we got off the plane, after an overnight flight via Amsterdam, and having checked into our hotel at 7am we decided to have a wander into town and our first port of call was the fish and veg markets which are always good for an early morning wander. We'd decided this was a better idea than sleep due to the fact that within only a few hours it might be too hot to go outside in the heat and it was our last chance to see something before we melted!  Needless to say it was a surreal introduction to the city but one which I can highly recommend especially if you get talking to the traders themselves who we had great conversations with like 'where in England you from?', 'Liverpool', 'Liverpool? Yeah, Kenny Dalglish!'.. However, I didn't really take many photos due to the fact that I could barley keep my eyes open so I went back on the last day for another quick look 'round before I came home. By this time as I was quite getting used to the heat and these were actually taken in the mid afternoon when the fish market and stopped trading for the day. 

 

 

Madinat

Madinat is the brand new shiny Arabic style souk that's virtually it's own mall though it's no doubt got a hotel within it's grounds/resort because as well as the shops, fake creek, boats to take you from one side to the other and all kinds of places to eat, you can also drink along the waterfront and being able to drink somewhere in Dubai means that somewhere within the business there's a hotel as that the rules of the drinks license.  The preconception before going to Dubai was that you could only drink in hotel bars but the reality is that you can drink in bars all over the place but they are always in the grounds of a hotel and hotels can have numerous bars and clubs in close proximity which you can wander between without actually feeling like you're in or near a hotel. There was even mention of 4 room hotels opening in the city with a bar attached!

For the photo enthusiasts out there, this is an 8 image 180 degree handheld panoramic photograph stitched in CS4 which is amazing at stitching images. Geek moment over!

Pretty Flamingos

After 6 days in Dubai you start to get the feeling that nothing is real or at least nothing is natural.  We were even in confused discussions as to who had been to the real souks as there is a replica brand new modern Arabic style shopping mall souk with a creek and boats as well as an original 'old' souk (could go as far back in ancient history as the 1970's) which is less 'authentic looking' but it also has a creek and boats. The point being that they seem to be getting rid of anything pre 1990 and building a nice new shiny modern version of it just along the road like history has to be gotten rid of and replaced with a fake history 'cos tourists like it.  

These flamingos, possibly to be replaced with plastic ones in the not too distant future, are just on the current edge of the ever expanding city and they're well worth getting lost on the motorway for just to realise that nature does exist somewhere on the edge of madness.

 

Calvin Harris

Having been spoilt and worn out by Dubai Sound City, as well as having new commercial work to do, against all good intentions regards getting out and covering more I've made myself a bit thin on the ground with Liverpool Music Week(s) but here's Calvin Harris from the University last week. I'm also doing the last gig of the event which is Kasabian tonight at the Echo Arena. 

I've also been asked quite a bit over the last few weeks as to whether I'd covered two of the biggest recent gigs with the first one being Morrissey and did I get a photo of whoever did it (nope, I was in Dubai) and secondly the Arctic Monkeys who I'd completely dismissed out of mind (even though I like them) due to the fact that they have one of those really over the top rights grabbing contracts.

Regards Morrissey (who also has a terrible photographer's contract), I was talking to somebody on Friday night who was trying to tell me the theory going around that Morrissey has a stooge in the audience and if he ain't feeling too good or wants that get out clause then a quick wink and he's hit with a very light cup of water to give him a excuse to pull the gig. And one of the main backups for this story is that if it was just a 'light cup of water' then it must have been close range and if it was close range then somebody must have seen who threw it etc etc. Anyway, it's my favourite musical conspiracy theory since me mate Gilly tried to convince me that the Arctic Monkeys were, in a similar way to The Monkees, a complete record company creation mostly due to the fact that nobody of the age of Alex Turner could have written songs as insightful and at times as cynical as he was writing. 

Anybody got any others?

Last but not least

After being chilled out by Nitin Sawhney and horrified by Alphabeat, it was left to The Wombats to be my last favourite band of the festival. Big catchy tunes and a silly amount of energy, The Wombats have got it all and in a proud Liverpool sort of way it was great seeing the Dubai crowd sing along!

And so that's it and I've blogged nearly all of the bands I photographed at Dubai Sound City with a only a city view or two left to upload over the next few days!

 

 

 

 

One man's least favourite band ever is another man's...

For those who don't know, like me before they took to the stage, Alphabeat are some sort of high octane Eurotrash camped up trance band and it was the worst thing I personally saw all weekend. However, the audience loved it, sang along and danced away on the last day of the festival whilst 2 grown men in their 40's ran out the VIP area and towards the stage shouting 'quick, quick, it's Alphabeat. Let's rock!'. Each to his own! Click here to decide which side of the Alphabeat fence you're on.

 

 

 

  

Slutterhouse at Festival City

I only managed to see one band down at this stage, which is a floating one at the back of the Festival City mall, and it was the Paris based band Slutterhouse and they were the perfect band to be playing in front of the most incredible sunset as people chilled out on bean bags in front of the marina. What more could you want? I went down here on my own on the third day as people were starting to flag from the post Happy Mondays party madness and it was the best thing I could have done and was perfectly timed!  

 

 

 

 

Happy Mondays

'Son I'm 30, I only went with your mother 'cos she's dirty'.  The Mondays opened with one of the best opening lines ever, from Kinky Afro, and the place went nuts. It was a late night on what would be their Saturday night and the up for it crowd were as drunk as could be in a country that doesn't really tolerate being drunk!  The set was amazing though Bez didn't make it and according to Shaun Ryder, 'They wouldn't let Bez out the country, they wouldn't let him out his mind!'. Hallelujah!

 

 

 

 

Big In Dubai

They kicked off with the Riverboat Song and it was crowd hysteria from the outset of Ocean Colour Scene's show as the 2nd on the bill band at the second night of Dubai Sound City. Next up is headliners Happy Mondays!

 

 

 

 

 

The Whip

 Next up is The Whip and this one's a change of venue as it was a nightclub (yes they do have nightclubs in Dubai!) called Chi which was a partly roofless place next to a fairground so behind the stage was the giant silhouette of a ferris wheel! Nothing is real. The Whip were another highlight for me, check them out here.

 

 

 

 

 

Doves

With a 5 day shoot ahead of me I'm attempting to put up all of my final Dubai Sound City photos by the end of today and first up is Doves from the first night. As there's still quite a few more to go I won't get into talking about the bands though more show details can be found here.

 

 

 

Burj Dubai sunset

On the last day of `Dubai Sound City I went down to Festival City which is a massive mall (one of many!) and this is the view at the back of the centre looking back towards Burj Dubai.  Festival City was also the site of another stage, a floating stage no less, and I'll post some photos of that one tomorrow.

 

Futureheads

Ploughing on with the uploads and todays Dubai Sound City pics are Futureheads. And there's still more to follow!

 

 

Dan Black

Just time for one more today and this time it's Dan Black. Never heard of him before 'cos I'm rubbish and not listened to him since but I should do as he was well good and very energetic which doesn't come easy with these sort of temperatures!

 

 

 

Nitin Sawhney

If you've been sitting up in a hotel room drinking cheap Scotch 'til 5 in the morning with plastic Arabs, I can guarantee that the best time to arrive at a festival the following day is when Nitin Sawhney is playing.  This was the best Sunday afternoon wind down music I've heard only it's actually only Saturday as the weekend in the Middle East starts early but if there was anybody I came back from Dubai wanting to see again then I reckon it was Mr Sawhney!

 

 

 

360º

Took a quick break from the activities of the Irish Village main stage to check out the circular 'out at sea' bar that is 360º. The two floor bar is stunning, DJ Francois Dubois was being broadcast live on Radio One and the young pretenders packing the place out were pretending away and we could have been anywhere in the world. Luckily we had the saving grace view of the Burj Al Arab to protect us and keep us entertained,  a view which was worth the visit alone!

The Courteenars at Dubai Sound City

It was great getting to photograph The Courteenars in Dubai as usually their UK audiences consist of some of them drink throwing types that seemed to have hit the headlines this week by striking the sensitive one onstage at the Echo Arena. Needless to say beer wasn't about to be chucked about in Dubai due to the fact that it's like 7 quid a pint and the consequences of it hitting the security is a risk I don't think nobody would want to take.

I think the singer looks like Father Ted.

 

 

 

 

Sound Of The crowd

So what were the punters like who attended Dubai Sound City?  Obviously the crowd were mostly expat (actually they were expat of many countries though mostly from Europe and then the States and down under) and by and large mostly 25 plus. They're also a pretty straight crowd and you could be forgiven for initially thinking that the organisers had just dropped a bar and a stage into a large outdoor branch of Next but on a second inspection there was actually quite a few cool people in attendance though the bunch of Emo kids I saw hanging out down at the Festival City stage one day were a bit of shock!  But the best thing about the audience was the hunger they had for live music and the lack of cynicism and the amount of enthusiasm they had for just about everyone that played, which sort of came in handy when pop disco kids bands like Alaphabeat were nearly playing back to back with psych out Welsh warriors Super Furry Animals.

And away from the live stages there was the aftershow club nights and I saw floors filled by everything from R&B and Hip Hop (defo big out there) to UK house (live on Radio One no less) alongside electro, pop and retro classics with standout sets being by Ladytrons Reuben Wu and The Futureheads who played the best floor filling wedding set I've ever heard at the last night party!.

 

 

 

Wave Machines

Quite easily one of my Dubai Sound City highlights was Wave Machines and they're a band that work just as well in a dark sweaty cellar as they do outdoors in daylight in blinding sunlight.  It was Friday afternoon and the first day off in the Dubai working week, the beer at the Irish Village was flowing and the dancing had begun and for many it felt like the weekend started here!  I was well late in getting onto Wave Machines and if you've not done so I suggest you do!!!

 

 

 

 

Burj Dubai part 2

In a slight break from the ongoing Dubai Sound City live music shots, here's another shot of the Burj Dubai.

We Have Band

It's the third and last day of the festival and it's wind down time. Err, no! It's We Have Band time and We Have Band are a party band to be followed later by the equally brilliant Dan Black.

 

 

The Parlotones

There's 4 of them in The Parlotones, who hail from South Africa, but at the last minute only 2 of the band could make it to Dubai which I think was something to do with visa restrictions but it didn't stop them making a big noise with only guitar and drums and big big vocals!

 

 

All Together Now

As well as the time needed between bands to take away and put new gear onstage for the next band, there was also gaps put into the schedule for prayers at the Mosque when the site had to be silent.  The whole day was set around Muslim prayer times and it was nice to be able to chill out on a quiet site once in a while. However, an unexpected double prayers just before the Farm's gig meant a delayed set and when they finally took to the stage the crowd were well up for it and the band got Dubai Sound City very much underway!

 

 

 

Sound Of Guns

First up today for Dubai Sound City is Sound Of Guns singing 'We are architects' next to a building site! The main stage kicked off on Thursday afternoon just as people were finishing work for the weekend so people were just starting to turn up when they took to the stage and in 95 degrees of heat and with the singer having a really bad throat they still managed to kick up a storm.