Deep into Thursday night and early into Friday morning, radio-friendly hip house artist will.i.am, along with internationally revered producer and rapper Timbaland, took the stage of the Dubai World Trade Centre Arena by storm on the first of Dubai Music Week’s four weekend concerts.
Thousands of fans erupted into screams for will.i.am’s near-midnight entrance; strobe lights worthy of an epilepsy warning flashed into the youthful audience, with a good portion of the nearly sold-out crowd partying sans 21+ wristbands and some so young they barely stood taller than the crowd barricade.
The solo artist — who shot to fame as frontman of the Black Eyed Peas — had a bit of a shaky start as he took his spot behind his laptop, with fans uncertain of his capabilities as a DJ rather than a performance artist, but he quickly regained control of the room with an eclectic mix of roaring hits.
His set ranged from classic rock remixes — most notably Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, an unlikely mash-up of Journey-meets-Flo Rida, and the timeless intro of Blur’s “Song 2” — to a slew of Top 40 singles, including popular tracks from Lana Del Rey, LMFAO, Usher and Rihanna.
The forty-five minute set had a predictably healthy splattering of fan-favourites out of will.i.am’s own discography, such as “Scream and Shout”, “That Power” and BEP’s chart-toppers “Rock That Body” and “I Gotta Feeling”, which he sang along to with the help of his hands-free microphone.
Usually known for his futuristic stage presence, the DJ was restricted by having to remain behind a dwarfing centre-stage table for the duration of his set, but despite physical limitations, he made every effort to engage the crowd with shout-outs to Dubai and the U.A.E. - “if you love this country, make some noise!” After his final track where he repeated the phrase “I wish this night would last forever,” he approached the front of the stage to let loose with a cheeky jig before he waved goodbye, swaggering off in style.
With barely any switchover time between sets, Timbaland took over the dramatically darkened stage minutes later with his trademark headphones propped up on his hairless head and a declaration of “Timba loves Middle East!”
The spotlights returned, and the producer was revealed to be wearing low-slung pants, a matching zip-up sweater and a face-splitting perma-grin. With his comically widened eyes, expressive facial features and mirthful voice, Timbaland delivered the most engaging set of the night, rife with crowd singalongs and the eccentric performer’s choppy, robot-like dance moves, including some endlessly entertaining literal choreography.
Timbaland, who most recently produced Justin Timberlake’s critically acclaimed “20/20” record, performed a range of his most popular production efforts, including Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’”, Missy Elliot’s “Work It”, Aaliyah’s “Try Again”, Ginuwine’s “Pony” and a number of Timberlake tracks including “Suit & Tie”, “Holy Grail” and “Carry Out”.
The baby-faced producer had a way of making everyone in the crowd feel special, sauntering back-and-forth between fans, singling out attendees to serenade, and occasionally demanding to know whether Dubai loves Timba as much as Timba loves Dubai — and if the resounding cheers were any indication, Dubai loves Timba plenty.
