JT & KOL

In the month of May, along with Goldfish and Fat Boy Slim, I got to see two awesome concerts: Justin Timberlake, and my all-time favourite band, the Kings of Leon!

Justin was up first and my friends Hajar, Cassie, and myself made our 4 hour mission over to Abu Dhabi to go and see the Prince of Pop perform.

Here's the thing though, I don't know if you've ever felt what 41 degrees Celsius feels like?

Let me tell you it is MSP HOT.

Take that and add thousands of people all around you, leaving you with no personal space, and it becomes a whole other level of uncomfortableness.

Just breathing makes you sweat profusely, and the LAST thing you want to do is jump up and down screaming, knowing this will only add more movement, forcing your body to become what is essentially an over-loaded sponge.

That's what the JT concert felt like.

That heat is nothing I've ever experienced before, and from the moment the show started I couldn't help but think: "OMG WHEN WILL THIS END SO I CAN GO FIND AIR-CONDITIONING?"

It was just too hot for me to really enjoy it.

Don't get me wrong though, he was AMAZING.

The kid knows how to put on a good show, and I tried my hardest to just enjoy seeing him perform Cry Me A River, My Love, Like I Love You, Rock With You, What Goes Around Comes Around, Mirrors, Señorita, and Sexy Back live.

Even Justin was stopping in between songs to "take a breather" and commenting on just how insanely hot it was that night.

I'm really hoping he performs in Cape Town, giving me an excuse to go home (as if I need one)  just so that I can go and REALLY enjoy his show.

*Side note: If JT ever does come, make SURE you buy a Golden Circle ticket. Seeing him up-close is definitely worth it*

Skip to 1:50 to see JT doing a MJ tribute before easily flowing into What Goes Around Comes Around.

I had one of those really impossible coincidences that night.

Just a few days before the show I had a London Heathrow flight. Coming back to Dubai we had two insanely good-looking guys on the flight, whom all the crew were obsessing over. That night as I was walking towards the stage, I suddenly stopped and shouted "OMG", because there they were! I walked up to them and told them what had just happened and even they were amazed.

What are the chances of that even happening?? The very next day Cassie says she bumped into them again at a beach club here called Barasti. 

Seriously weird.

Of the night, this was one of those songs where not even the torturous heat could stop you from singing and dancing along!

He ended off the concert with my favourite performance of the night: Mirrors

Although Justin (yes, I refer to him on a first-name basis now because technically we HAVE met in real life, okay?) didn't have an encore, but after Mirrors, it wasn't needed.
I saw and heard all the songs I wanted to.
I was happy the show was over and I immediately made a bee-line for the exit in search of a taxi with freezing air-conditioning.
We could not be bothered to head back to Abu Dhabi to take the bus back to Dubai.
Instead, we split the AED 500 (roughly R1440) taxi ride back amongst the 3 of us because really all we wanted to do was get home ASAP, take a shower, and crawl into bed.

Justin Timberlake Setlist at du Arena at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates:

Pusher Love Girl
Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)
Rock Your Body
FutureSex/LoveSound
Like I Love You
My Love
TKO
Summer Love
LoveStoned
Until the End of Time
Holy Grail
Cry Me a River
Only When I Walk Away
Drink You Away
Tunnel Vision
Señorita
Let the Groove Get In
Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley cover)
Not a Bad Thing
Human Nature (Michael Jackson cover)
What Goes Around... Comes Around
Take Back the Night
Jungle Boogie (Kool & The Gang cover)
Murder
Poison (Bell Biv DeVoe cover)
Suit & Tie
SexyBack
Mirrors

The thing you have to understand is that concerts in Dubai aren't like how we do them back home.
There's no build-up to a show; no anticipation. People go because it's an event to attend and a Facebook check-in waiting to happen; it's not the "OMG WE CAN'T MISS THIS, IT'S ALL ANYONE WILL TALK ABOUT FOR WEEKS AFTER" type of thing that happens back in SA, probably because this city is much bigger than CT.
Maybe it's because Dubai is filled with so many expats who are living a transit life here, but there's no one thing or event here that really unifies the people.
Even 5fm (for example) unifies all of the South African youth because we all listen to it; we all hear about upcoming shows through them; we sell out shows within hours of them being announced; and we all build the hype for months ahead of time, until the day finally arrives and we queue for hours outside the stadium way ahead of time.
Here, you can actually buy a ticket the day of the show, arrive late, and still get a good viewing spot, because nobody really cares.
When you go to a concert here, sure people sing and dance, but most of them just stand there, taking photos to post on social media, not really going on like mal naai's, and that's the one thing I really really miss about concerts back home: people going on like MAL NAAI'S.
It's like being in a room full of people sitting on their phones, whilst your favourite song comes on and you're dancing like crazy whilst they just tap their feet.
It's a buzz-killer.
Most of the time I'm just there, wishing they would get out the way so I can get closer to the band/ artist, and really FEEL the moment.

As i'm sure you're aware by now, I have an obsession with Kings of Leon.
Just 7 days after JT, coming off of a Delhi turnaround flight, and I was making my way to Atlantis the Palm, with my friends Laura and Eimear, for the second time this month to see my KOL boys do their thang!

As obsessed as I am with KOL, I only ended up buying my ticket a week before the show, simply because I didn't want to go by myself, and I couldn't find anyone that wanted to go with me!
The thing about my friends is that most of them come from First World countries where they're used to having international bands come and perform on a regular basis.
These people don't understand the real-life struggle that is FOMO.
For them, skipping a concert means nothing because chances are that person will be back in the near future.
Whereas for me, coming from South Africa, we're lucky if an international band or artist comes to perform even once, let alone a second time (with the exception of 30 Seconds To Mars. Really, is a third show necessary?)
I had made up my mind that I was going to go even if it meant going by myself, because I was not about to miss the chance to see KOL live again, when luckily Eimear said she would join me. Yay!
As I was getting ready to go meet up with her, she let me know that Laura had decided last-minute to join us as well. Double yay!

We had to book tickets online via credit card and pick them up at the venue, because that's how they do things here (which is a dom system if you ask me, because hello, QUEUES).

Surprisingly I bumped into some people I knew. Dubai is slowly becoming smaller and smaller.

A little supper on the beach before the show.

Laura's snapchat doesn't do the heat justice, but it definitely wasn't as bad as the JT concert.

And here they come, opening up with Supersoaker!

Oh Caleb. You do know how much I love your Ginger face, don't you?

One of the best moments of the night is when they slowed it down a bit.

Caleb asked everyone to take out their phones and shine their cellphone lights, and they started playing one of my favourite songs Cold Desert (which is ironic because Dubai is a kak hot desert).

They didn't perform it when they came to Cape Town, so I was more than thrilled I got to see them perform it live.

I still think Cold Desert is a HIGHLY underrated song.

I just stood there, listening to them perform it and swaying with the music, marvelling in that moment of pure happiness.

After Use Somebody, they went offstage before coming on again for the encore, beginning with Crawl, followed by Black Thumbnail.

Then they ended of the show with the crowd favourite: Sex On Fire.

I still can't get over the fact that I've now seen them twice. 

I can't tell you how happy this makes me.

Here's a video that someone took that I keep re-watching because it makes me feel like I'm back in that moment again. I really wish they would make a concert DVD of their shows. I'd definitely buy them!:

Coming off the high of that night, we didn't want to leave, so we stayed and partied on the beach whilst a local DJ came on to play, until eventually we had security guards chasing us off the beach.

Even though I've come to learn that seeing a concert here in Dubai is nothing like how we do things back home, it was definitely another amazing night for the memory bank! :)

Kings of Leon Setlist at Atlantis, The Palm Jumeirah, United Arab Emirates:

Supersoaker
Taper Jean Girl
Family Tree
My Party
Closer
On Call
Temple
I Want You (First time they've played it since October 2009!)

Fans
The Bucket
Wait for Me
Pyro
Tonight
Radioactive
Don't Matter
Molly's Chambers
Four Kicks
Cold Desert
Use Somebody

Encore:
Crawl
Black Thumbnail
Sex on Fire