UthMag Chilled out at Chill Out Fest 2012
DUBAI – Proving to be more successful as day-one, the second day of the two-day Chill Out Festival saw more crowds gathered to watch the various artists, especially famous British band the Kooks, on Saturday 21st of April in the Amphitheatre in Dubai Media City.
Staring off the evening with rock band Nikotin, promoting their new album Panodrama, the crowd’s energy was pumped up for the acts that followed. Shaair + Func, the famous indie band, who performed inDubaifor the first time, continued to raise the energy of the crowd with their sensational act. Nina, a friend of the lead singer of Shaair + Func, Monica, said she had seen all of their performances and loved watching them perform that evening.
Though the crowd had very much enjoyed watching these two bands perform, it was guitar and drums duo Niki Mukhi and Rony Afif that caught the attention of most and gained a new fanbase at the event. Crowd memebers Aarti and Misha said so far Niki Mukhi and Rony Afif’s performance was their favourite so far. Gehna Mohanani said their performance alongside Hamdan Al-Abri was amazing. Mohanani said she appreciated the fusion of international talent with UAE based as it would help spread the word of UAE talent internationally and for those who really enjoy music, the Chill Out Festival was a great opportunity. Mohanani added that she “will absolutely be coming back again” to the festival. UAE based artist Hamdan Al-Abri, who was in the performance with Niki Mukhi and Rony Afif said he enjoyed performing with them as the energy between them was amazing and liked the “chilled out” crowd at the event.
But that was not all as the night had only just begun!
Tony Allen’s performance took performing live inDubaito a whole different level when he got off stage and danced with the audience. His performance earned him a whole new fan base inDubaiwith his highlife and jazz music, giving it an African touch, referring back to his roots. Audience members Montasir and Yasmin said they really enjoyed the performance, “especially when he interacted with the people” added Yasmin. Artist Hamdan Al-Abri said he really loved watching Tony Allen perform. “Tony Allen was amazing! I met him backstage and he is such a cool guy to hang out with and talk to, he’s very down to earth” said Al-Abri.
But the main act the crowd was waiting for was yet to come.
Famous British band The Kooks had the entire audience on their feet from the moment they started performing. Singing a mixture of old and new song such as Naïve,Seaside, Ooh La, Always Where I Need To Be, Junk of the Heart, and Do You Wanna, The Kooks had the audience singing along to every word they sung. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Luke Pritchard kept the audience alive by walking around from one end of the stage to the other while performing. The audience jumped and cheered throughout the whole performance and even asked for an encore, leading to The Kooks singing three more songs before their performance ended. Major Kooks fan Ammar Nasr said their performance was “rocking”. “It was good. Sensational. I am a huge fan and I like them even more after the concert.” , aid Nasr. He added that their performance was exactly how he had thought it would be and if in the future they perform inDubai, he would definitely be going. Mohammad Kayyali, who said he didn’t listen to their music before, said he would now listen to them more often and he would also be going to their concert when it happens again.
The night ended with Electro one-man-band RobinSukroso. Not using any turntables, but just one guitar which he made himself, “The Acapad Guitar”, the Germin artist closed the event on an electric upbeat note.
The after party continued at nightclub Triology, in Madinat Jumeira, with artists such as DJ Magnetic Man in the electric studio, Protoje on the rooftop and Moodyman in the main room.
One thing that we will always remember about this concert was the Chilled out atmosphere (no pun intended). The bean bags, the smiles and how close you could get to the stage. All in all this was one concert that we are looking forward to happening next year.. Until then, hope this article helped you…. Chill!
