Dubai Forums Dubai Classifieds Dubai Job Wanted

So after obsessing about Dubai for months and months I finally visited this past September and absolutely loved it. So much so that I have been strongly considering a possible move there.

Have 11+ years of experience of organizing, promoting and running live concerts here in a large city in the United States. Started from scratch as I own and operate the company myself. Received a great deal of press from several large publications (many non-music related covering the unique aspect of the company)

Have brought over 4,000+ bands from all around the world. Specializing in hosting shows in "unusual spaces" (non traditional concert venues) where all of the production and staff had to be brought in and set-up that day. Our average show attendance per event is 300-500 people a night (with occasional large events for 3,000+ people).

Looking to continue to work in event planning and live music.

But before even worrying about that - Is there a "scene" (for lack of a better term) for american/international bands in Dubai ? In other words - Would anyone care ? While I was over there Time Out Dubai was writing about a good deal of the bands that we do shows for in Philadelphia (the bands tend to be from the more cool/hip/indie side of things) but I am skeptic that there is a enough people interested in this to sustain a frequent concert basis (at least with these kind of bands)

Are there any hip / botique hotels (or nightclubs) in Dubai that tend to focus on 20/30 somethings (with money) . I worked with a few hotels bringing bands from Europe to play at their hotel to raise the profile of the hotel (and it worked)

Any help / ideas / comments are appreciated !

hi there,
possibly a few leads, comments:

1. have a look at : http://www.dubailook.com/mirage.html
2. aslo possibly consider contacting one of the larger hotel chains (Jumerieh International), this may be something they would be interested in, if they are not already doing it
3. toursim/ tour companies (in the UAE) - during the winter months desert trips are a roaring trade, and could offer an interesting venue for an evening event
4. as to the market, have a look at the demographics of dubai/ the uae. i have posted some of the older figures in a recent posting. you then obviously have to extrapolate your particular market segments to see if there is a sustained demand for what you are offering. possibly contact the dubai department of economic development, explain your situation and ask them for the recent population statistics and demographics. remember the majority of the expat population in dubai are labourers and are housed in labour camps - these would not normally be your target audiance.

perhaps another point to mention, is that all venues such as nightclubs serving alcohol, have to by law be attached to a licensed and registered hotel! the simplest way of canvasing potential spots would be to get a list of all the hotels in dubai and see what they offer by way of nightclubs, restaurants, bars etc.

thanks so much for that link and those tips - I'll get right on that list !