Vanilla Ice is a serious artist?
Apparently so, and anyone hoping for a bit of a trip down memory lane to some 90s pop got a shock at Barasti.
Firstly from the DJ. Let's just say that Mr Van Winkle was running a little late (about an hour and a quarter late which is not bad by Dubai standards) and that seemed to catch the DJ unawares.
It seems he'd run out of material and was moving away from bad 90s Eurodance into 70s disco, salsa and appalling early naughties pop when the concert started at 11.15pm.
The second surprise came from the Ice man himself. A bizarre inflatable grim reaper and a sidekick dressed as a circus performer gave more than a passing nod to fellow 90s rappers the Insane Clown Posse.
And when he took to the stage you could see a man determined to 'educate' the folks who'd come for a pleasant throwback on the beach.
Piercing, bass heavy dirty south style beats were accompanied by a live drummer pounding out rock rhythms and a heavily tattooed Ice prowling the stage, growling his lyrics and constantly showering the crowd with water.
Keen to be remembered for more than saccharine pop rap, he made the crowd wait for 30 minutes (seriously, there were boos because he didn't play a hit in the first 10 minutes) before taking it “back to the old skool” with a foreboding and unrecognisable version of his hit single “Ninja Rap”.
A one verse cameo of “Play that funky music” led into the moment everyone had been waiting for.
Of course he knew it too as he smirked and launched into a short lived ironic dance routine as the opening bars to Ice Ice Baby rang out.
The thudding bass shook the whole venue of another heavily altered version, but that didn't seem to bother the crowd who danced, sang and then went home after hearing the one song they came for.
Ice struggled manfully on (I guess he must be used to it) and closed a shockingly short set with his new single (which is actually a fairly catchy techno club romp) and by airing his not inconsiderable drumming skills.
