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The UAE...what is it like musically?

7K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  stroobia 
#1 ·
I'm looking at a possible job in the UAE, probably within driving distance of Dubai, and I am wondering what kind of music scene exists there, or what kind of opportunities there are to play, get a band together, etc....

Anybody got some info?

Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
Hey Randall,

I don't live in the UAE, but I am in the Middle East, and I have many musician friends who live, lived, or have gigged in the UAE, so I can give you some sort of idea as to what to expect.

Live bands don't get as much action as other places in the world simply because nightlife is expensive (alcohol is legal, but EXPENSIVE!), but that doesn't mean that you won't be playing, just expect to work hard to find a group of musicians who are both dedicated and have the connections to get a gig. There are very few live music bars and clubs, and most of the live music happens in hotels, because they can afford it.

Now, as you probably know already, there is A LOT of money in Dubai, so there is a lot of recording going around and labels are everywhere, signing any musicians with some sort of audience. You'll definitely find a spot in a band that will be fun and musically ear-opening.

Find me on facebook and I'll try to get you some contact info to get you started off: www.facebook.com/samisax/

There is a lot of talent in this region I think, and there is a lot of culture that hasn't mixed in with the global culture, so I believe you're going to have a blast just listening to music.

I don't know when the Dubai Jazz Festival is going to be (probably in the Spring), but that is also a great event. Big names from around the world fly in and put on great shows with all the money that's there, and a lot of "local" artists perform, so you could probably manage to get yourself on stage if you're up for it.

Good luck and let me know if you need anything else.
 
#3 ·
I've been in the UAE for the last 3 years and in the Gulf for the past 10. If you don't mind, which city will you be in? Lots of employers tell people they'll be within driving distance to Dubai, but in truth it may be 2-3 hours away.

I'm sure you'll find places to play and people to jam with, I've seen some very talented people here. A number have left recently, but more are coming in every day, so the chances of finding someone to play with should be good. Good luck.
 
#4 ·
As the old joke goes about the American drummer who took a gig in the Middle East:
The leader tells him there's no time to practice before the gig, but no problem, they'll just play stocks. "Just remember to give us a heavy beat on 13 and 24."
 
#5 ·
gypsy, if I take the job it will likely be in R'as Al Khaimah, which I understand is about 45 to 50 minutes out of Dubai.
ssleb thanks, and I will look you up on FB soon....interesting.

Wonder if I can find a good funk/R&B band!? ;)
 
#7 ·
We're now in Abu Dhabi Randall and have been these past five months. It's a 40 minute drive to Dubai for us (in fact, I'm in Dubai hotel as I write) So, pm me anything else you want to ask.

I believe there are a LOT of musical opportunites out here. Often restaurants use recorded music. Dubai would work best for live music. But you'd probably be best creating your own band, since things move very slowly here.
Also, when they say 'jazz', they are nearly always popular 'cover bands' which I find really disappointing. Honestly, I've been so far disappointed with the standard here. So I think really good musicians would be really valuable. But it's nothing like the buzzing American music scene. But I think you could get gigs here. ( I hope to soon) Mixing and networking seems to be the way things work here. So, getting involved in the music social scene would be another way in.
There is also an Abu Dhabi Big Band here, which is always looking for sax players.

A big obstacle I find is the traffic here. Abu Dhabi is jam packed getting in and out at night and driving is usually a bit scary (hence we have a 4x4, which helps) There are five prayer times a day/night and at those times, huge amounts of muslims rush to their local mosque. There are a thousand in Abu Dhabi alone! But these are all things you can find out about.

As far as the lifestyle goes. We LOVE it here. We are so pleased we took this job opportunity. ;) It's fab!
 
#8 ·
Laurel you aren't working for the HCT are you, by any chance?

I have heard about the traffic and driving (One friend said it is "unsafe at any speed!"), so I figure if we go, it will be a 4x4 too.

What do you play mainly? I am a tenor guy first but play bari, then alto and soprano.

Actually I don't mind cover bands as so much as long as they don't perform, "Black Velvet", or "The Electric Slide":TGNCHK:
 
#10 ·
I have heard about the traffic and driving (One friend said it is "unsafe at any speed!"), so I figure if we go, it will be a 4x4 too.
The powers that be have addressed this issue by setting up speed cameras all along the road to Abu Dhabi, and elsewhere. Driver and car pics are snapped and fines are recorded on a web site somewhere ,and you have to keep checking it - they don't mail you anything to let you know you've got fines outstanding. Nice huh? The roads are actually in good shape around UAE but the never-ending construction activities throw wrinkles into everything.
 
#9 ·
I just returned from a 2-week "vacation" (i.e. visit to in-laws) in Dubai. Our trip included a stay in the Sheraton Abu Dhabi.

My impression from this admittedly short trip: Musically, the UAE is a desert. I wasn't exposed to any live music at all during this time, on purpose or by accident. Granted this is end of summer, and Ramadan started during our trip also, and these developments conspired to drive people indoors and keep folks at home.

If there is a music scene anywhere, it is probably centered around hotel bars and adjoining nightlife districts - where they exist. Abu Dhabi Sheraton was advertising a DJ event with mocktails, which featured some hip-hop artists, and sounded interesting but we didn't get to it. The one music store I found in the Dubai Mall was selling beautiful saxes, but they were some weird knockoff mfgr I never heard of. I wouldn't count on using music stores for anything there.

And I don't think Craigslist or online forums are going to work well for hooking up with other musicians, so you will have to really the bricks hard and do some personal networking to find players. The Dubai expat guide mentions a couple of community orchestras operating, so that might be worth checking out as a jumping off point.

I've not been to Ras al-Khaimah but i'm told its much more conservative than Dubai. Drivable to Dubai, yes (but not easily commutable to Abu Dhabi). Traffic is a pain though. During our 2 weeks we got stuck in several nasty traffic jams. Fortunately traffic keeps to the right so its not a big adjustment for American drivers.

If you can be based in Dubai, you may find musical opportunities as a wind player but it feels like a long hard slog trying to get your own jazz group going for any length of time. Everyone thats an expat is living on borrowed time and most move on in a year or two or three. Better use of your time might be find a private lesson teacher who specializes in Arabic music and take some lessons and get exposure to the new scales. But, I never heard of anyone in our extended fam taking private music instruction in Dubai, and I never hear about general music in their school either, and extracurriculars (for kids in particular) are woefully inadequate.

Check desertspeak.com for current info. I'm sure there are other active forums, but I couldn't find them.

I don't mean to sound like debbie downer - i'm sure the UAE has its fans, and you'll hear from them too - but after two weeks of swimming in the apartment pool and two water parks and 105F heat and umpteen malls I was ready to get out of there. Between the heat and the lack of mental stimulation, my brain was starting to atrophy.

SJ

p.s. have you ever lived in a Muslim country before? If not, there are special considerations there for Westerners. Ramadan = no restaurants open during the day, and no eating/drinking in public allowed. Don't hit on the pretty girls in abayas cruising the mall; not a good idea. Internet censorship - not too bad, but you won't be able to access Flickr or use your VoIP services.
 
#12 ·
Well, trying to find music during the month (one) of Ramadan will be like trying to find water in the desert. It's the worst time to visit for a holiday. Since it's a time to concentrate on prayer/fasting, no loud music is allowed (I do play my sax in my house though, I just don't play during the prayer times) And it's rare to find music in any bars or restaurants, but that's only for one month.

Yes, the eating/drinking thing is difficult during Ramadan, but you work around it and show respect, like you would to any different culture.
And the up-side is an incredibly safe and hospitable society. Honestly, I've never felt so safe. Or as a woman, been treated so respectfully. :)

I agree, teaching music and music repair is scarce. And Abu Dhabi is more conservative than Dubai, so is tentatively trying music. But it is a booming/growing city. Hotels do have music in the evening. Since the guests are very cosmopolitan. The Hilton, for example had a great R and B band playing.

My feeling, conversely, is therefore there are loads of opportunities here. For the very reason that the scene is growing but the talent here is minimal and people are coming and going, as Sleepless said. But I think you'll have to network and socialize and create it yourself. I think the opportunites are in the many hotels.
You cannot live here unless you have a job. So there isn't that kind of wandering musician thing going on :the result is you have expats with jobs who play. Nothing wrong with that. It just again means not a lot of professional musicians. Or, if they live here, the'll tend to be arabic/indian music.

I'm a sax player and singer/song-writer by the way and I also play keyboard. I already had two offers (through facebook) to add my sax/singing to two bands. Logistics were the problem. As is traffic already mentioned. And appointments for visas and ID cards can take hours of waiting!!! So always bring water and food for appointments, especially if you have kids.
 
#16 ·
And the up-side is an incredibly safe and hospitable society. Honestly, I've never felt so safe. Or as a woman, been treated so respectfully. :)
I hear Beijing is safe to walk the streets at night. Doesn't make me want to live there though.

Getting to Randy's latest questions... you're going on 5 months and haven't found a gig yet? Also, do you know anything about the community orchestra/band situation in Dubai? that seems like the most logical starting point for hobby players in a new city.

There appears to be a shortage of wind teachers so Randy, you might be able to offer yourself as a teacher. However, Japan has a tradition of jazz-player worship esp wrt sax, and I don't see that aspect of jazz culture penetrating the UAE (as yet).

SJ
 
#13 ·
My experience of Dubai (and surroundings ) is limited to a week spent there 3 years ago. I was there on business and I had a Nepalese Gurkha (seriously!) driver who drove me around to several pre-arranged appointments with prospective customers for the coffee business I was working for (lot of talking and very little beef by the way!)

He was always careful to choose times of the day to travel out of Dubai outside the rush hour and especially the evening rush hour looked dreadful.

I have already commented on the difficulty to find a good music store in another topic.... then we also established that repairs are impossible.

My experience is not at all to be compared to Laurel's , she lives there, but as a visitor I didn't get the feeling that life over there would be very eventful let alone much fun. I talked also a lot to ex-pats and people in diplomatic capacities there and they all told me that life in Dubai is pretty boring compared to other cities in the world, and that most things happen in hotels (also things that were better not talked about...) and shopping malls. Not much outside that.

I never experienced live music and I did ask my hotel concierge (Crowne Plaza) but they couldn't direct me to any place as such.
 
#14 ·
Randall,
RAK isn't a bad place to be and the HCT campuses there are better places to work than in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Teaching jobs are pretty good and secure, admin jobs less so.

Traffic can be a pain, but the gov't is just trying to keep up with the influx of people by building new roads and trying to make commutes easier. It's much easier to live close to your job in the smaller emirates, but in the larger ones like Dubai or Abu Dhabi, long commutes and traffic hassles are common.

Ramadan for a new expat can be disconcerting, but it can be handled with a little patience, just like pretty much everything else here.

There are musicians here, you'll just need to look a little to find them. As Laurel said, most will have primary jobs with their music as a hobby.

Give it a chance and you may find yourself really enjoying the lifestyle.
Good luck, gypsy
 
#15 ·
so gypsy, what is life like for a sax player there?

Are you getting much playing, either for fun or for money?
Do you think there would be any potential to teach sax to beginners? I do that here in Japan.

Any idea what a band gets per night at a good hotel lounge? I am thinking soul and R&B, perhaps a little jazz thrown in.

Sounds like you are a familiar with HCT and RAK...why do you think the admin jobs are not so good? They recruited me for an admin. job several years ago at a conference in England...I never followed up on it though.

I am shooting for the women's college at RAK now. My cousin is working there, so he is keeping me in the pipeline about conditions, students, etc...

All comments and advice are greatly appreciated guys...keep it coming. I need to know the good, bad and the ugly.;)
 
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