Dubai: Music fans, there’s another new festival in town. Just in case last weekend’s RedFest DXB wasn’t enough, Done Events have come up with Blended, a two-night festival to take place this May 1 to 2.
With performances from Joss Stone on the first night and Elvis Costello and wife Diana Krall on night two (with further names to be added to the line-up, we’re told), this one’s for the grown-ups.
Like RedFest, Blended will take place at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre, in an all-seated event focused on blues, roots, jazz, soul and folk music.
Australian musician Xavier Rudd, who mixes indigenous music with blues, reggae and folk by performing on instruments from guitars to didgeridoos will perform on the same stage as Stone, who was last in the UAE (publicly, at least) to support Britain’s Prince Harry at a fund-raiser for his charity, Sentebale. The show starts at 6pm.
On the second night, jazz and blues stars — and married couple — Krall and Costello will perform from 4pm. Krall is a Grammy-award-winning pianists, who has most recently scored nods for her bluegrass work with Robert Plant. Costello will perform a solo show.
Organisers also promise an “up-scale food and beverage offer” and punters can chose from seat or “picnic-style” tickets. Like RedFest, Done Events say they plan to make the festival a yearly fixture.
“We know that a large number of people across the region crave culture and quality live music. Blended has been developed to meet this gap in the market and launches a completely new live music concept in the Middle East,” said Thomas Ovesen, COO of Done Events, in a statement. “With the events’ programming focused on a very diverse range of artists that have never played before in the region previously, Blended by its very nature, means that year-on-year we can create a unique, high-quality live event proposition that is unique to Dubai and the Middle East.”
