It's raining musicians

It will always be a night to remember. More than 15,000 people danced in the pouring rain as UK music heavyweights Coldplay belted out all the favourites. Lightning whipped across the night sky above a custom-built stage as the boys joked about the freak weather conditions in the capital. "I think we need to change the set and go for a few ‘wet' numbers," said band frontman Chris Martin breaking into the famous 1920s tune.

Tabloid! broke the story of Coldplay's extra date on their Viva la Viva world tour and the UAE waited with anticipation for the tickets to go on sale. Triple Grammy Award-winning they may be, but Coldplay are just one of a long line of top music acts who have been drawn to the UAE over the years.

Concert of the year

Billed as the ‘concert of the year' it was Coldplay's performance on March 28 that really raised the bar, with tickets to their gig at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, selling out in record time. Organisers Flash warned people they would have to get in early and they weren't wrong.

On the last leg of their world tour to promote their fourth album Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, Coldplay belted out all their hits including Yellow, The Scientist, Fix You, Clocks and In My Place from their previous three albums, alongside other tracks such as Green Eyes, Shiver and The Hardest Part. From their latest album, it was the obvious and slightly clichéd Viva La Viva that really got the crowd going.

The concert also went down in history as the first event to be offset against its own carbon footprint in order to commemorate Earth Hour. The band, known to be environmentally friendly, requested organisers switch off all lights in the arena for five minutes to commemorate the event. The lights of thousands of mobile telephone screens could be seen across the venue as the group went on to do a cover of Neil Diamond's I'm a Believer.

From jazz to heavy metal, musicians drawn to the UAE in 2009 cover a wide spectrum to suit all tastes. Iron Maiden's custom-designed Boeing touched down in Dubai again this year while James Blunt, John Legend and Incognito kept the fans of smoother grooves happy during the city's annual Skywards Jazz Festival.

Most are enjoying their first visit to the country while others can't wait to return. Iron Maiden's lead singer Bruce Dickinson, who is also the band's pilot, said he always looked forward to landing in Dubai and would continue to return as long as the fans wanted them. "It's a great place to play," said Dickinson. "We came in 2007 and now 2009 and would come again." This year's performance marked the start of a 19-city leg in their world tour, Somewhere Back In Time, which revisits the band's history by focusing almost entirely on the '80s.

The newest introduction to the music circuit this year was the birth of Dubai Sound City — a giant indie festival across seven Dubai venues. A few favourites from the '90s were here, including Ocean Colour Scene, Happy Mondays and The Human League. While the three-day event had its teething problems organisers say it's onwards and upwards for the festival. The Killers are up next with a mammoth concert at Emirates Palace planned for December 8.

While the country's concert goers mark dates on their calendars, the big guns of the music world mark the UAE on theirs.