If you thought the Gulf Bike Festival is just about those big headline acts and hard-core Harley-Davidson fans, you would be very wrong.
There's a spot for the little guy, too. Nikotin, one of the biggest up-and-coming Dubai-based bands will be strutting their stuff and rocking Festival City this weekend as they open for Canadian rock giants Nickelback.
The band are understandably excited and could hardly contain themselves when tabloid! caught up with them.
"Nickelback rocks man, we are going to make them proud," said the drummer, Psycho. (The members go by nicknames, and won't disclose their real names.)
"Well, I am probably going to have to change my diaper tonight, that's all!" added bassist Dirty.
Lead singer Cruize was more coherent: "Really excited, this is a once in a lifetime, it never gets better than this!"
And the band's quiet rhythm guitarist Charlie puts it plainly: "We are really excited and we hope that the show will rock, and we are looking forward to it very much."
Fans aplenty
Local hard rock ingénues Nikotin (who also include Mr P, on lead guitar) have gathered quite a following here in Dubai in a very short time. Their first live on-air set on Dubai Eye radio was in October; more interviews followed in quick succession and when they were asked to play the undeRage Festival that same month, little did they realise it would lead them to one of their biggest and most important performances to date.
As the band came off stage at undeRage, the organisers, concert promoters Live Nation, took them aside and asked if they wanted to play at Gulf Bike Festival.
"We had been spreading our music around a lot to get it noticed, so we sent it to a couple of promoters. This event called undeRage came about in October and they were looking for a band to open their first undeRage event and they came across our MySpace [page]," Cruize said.
Psycho butted in with, "Yeah, they practically Googled us, put in UAE bands and we were the first ones there and they liked us!"
Cruize added: "After we did that event, as soon as we finished the show they said, ‘You guys are on for Bike Week.'"
"We weren't even done coming down from the stage and they were like, ‘Come play for Bike Week,'" said Psycho.
‘We love our music'
Their debut original single Dance Dance was put up on MySpace in May last year and it got a whopping 600 views within three days and with their new EP release, Short of PanoDrama, coming out soon and their second release following shortly after, these guys are on a rocketship to the big time.
Their hard rock sound and crashing guitar riffs are sure to get your heart racing. "Even to us, the people who made it [the songs], we are still fascinated by them and the amount of energy they provide. We really love our music. If I am in a bad mood, I would listen to our music," said Psycho.
Cruize takes on the lead vocals with a cheeky edge and a twinkle in his eye, backed by brooding maestro Mr P on lead guitars, charming Charlie on rhythm guitars, Dirty on bass and Psycho on drums. (A word of warning here, watch out for Psycho and his flying drum sticks, as he gets over-enthusiastic).
So put on your torn jeans, dig out your black eyeliner and show this home-grown act your support.
Don't Miss it
See Nikotin at the Gulf Bike Festival tomorrow at 7.30pm, just before Nickelback. They will also play tonight at 7pm on the Piazza stage, and at 2pm on Saturday.
Bring out the rogue
Dubai-based rock band Universal Rogue will belt out their own brand of old-style traditional rock 'n' roll and will get you going with fan favourites such as Stainless Bond, Flash-funk and Don't Let Go at Gulf Bike Festival, a DSF event. Lead singer Khan (originally from Karachi, but raised in the UAE) lends his powerful voice and song-writing talent to the contemporary and hard rock sound the band is known for. Their influences are heavily anchored in the '70s and ‘80s with such music legends as The Doors, The Beatles and Skid Row topping their list.See them at 5.20pm tonight, 1.30pm tomorrow and 4pm on Saturday at the Piazza Stage. Also playing are local acts Sandwash, Jonas Desai, Beat Antenna and Flipside.
