The band met at Heathrow and started checking in. One of us had managed to half fill a tiny case, and had no instrument to take (Dacre!) and Ben had a huge case plus his guitar - all important stuff like his pedalboard and enough strings to last a week. We think he leaks acid from his finger tips so he keeps an entire string factory going with what he goes through! Heathrow's a bit busy so we get off a bit late, but make good time. One of those new double decker airbus planes and they have cameras in the nose, tail and even one pointing down! So you can see what the pilot can see - really great idea. Now keep in mind I had no idea what the climate in the UAE is in November, so Iooked at pictures from previous Grand Prix events there. First mistake was to assume the sky was grey like the UK in November. Blue and grey are very similar. I even brought a jumper in case it was a bit chilly. Somewhere I had read that desert countries were often cold at night, so I assumed 37 degrees was a reference to nighttime chill in degrees F when I discovered it was daytime temperature in degrees C! Walking out of the air conditioned hotel was a shock.
Dubai is a pretty impressive city. The huge Mall near our hotel has a ski slope on the roof! The map we had was. Bit like the map of the London Underground and didn't have a scale so the short walk to the beach turned into a trek that after about a mile we figured was a really bad move so we flagged down a people carrier taxi and discovered how fares are 'negotiated' we told the driver we wanted to go to the beach. He asked how much we wanted to pay so we suggested 50 Diram, which is about ten quid. He took it, so even though he probably would have taken less but for less thana couple of quid each our feet were happy. The beach was nice, with little round male and female changing rooms. Plenty of Europeans looking like lobsters. The beach hotels are all 6 star and above with their own marinas and heliports. Another taxi journey back to our hotel when we'd done the tourist stuff. Next morning we're on the coach with a UK steel band and some martial arts experts on our way to the venue. Everyone has security passes with photos on BUT the coach doesn't have the right pass so eventually we arrive at the 'production area'. We grab our guitars and get ushered in a hurry up a loading ramp onto the main stage. I don't know what Jay Z's band look like, but I bet they don't wear Hawaiin shirts! Confusion over we get swapped to a smaller bus with the correct pass and we get taken to the south stage next to the track and in between the main stadia. For those with a technical interest a Yamaha PM5 with a nice LA flown line array. Our request got us some nice back-line and a decent drum kit, and best of all Jamie who was looking after the sound - and proved to be very good at it too! The logistics of all the entertainment was detailed to the minute. In the huge green room we had endless hot and cold drinks and food and a big spreadsheet showing our stage times and c/o times. First set is pretty good and most of the audience are simply passing on their way to their seats in the stadium but second set is interesting. We had assumed that the odd timings and set lengths were to allow for variety and changeovers between track activity, but we were wrong. Practices, qualifying and races would start early, or finish late so one set we did in competition with a porche race. We lost, although as many beach boys songs at about cars, we just figured it was sound effects! One more internal coach journey with a driver who didn't understand English, Arabic or French ( the only languages available from us on the bus) meant he missed our stop twice and in the end we gave up and walked back to the proper location. So Saturday done - two hours to get to the hotel and bed, then up early for the 7.45 coach back to the track for the main day.
7.45 came around again, and back to the venue through a sand storm. This time we get to our stage without any problems - and we have to hang around until 12 for our first set. This went off without a hitch and we had a great time again. In the entire time we were there we didn't come across one grumpy person, which is amazing. We did discover that watching Formula 1 racing is very difficult. Two of each team, so you can work out roughly who is who - until they start lapping the slowest cars. Once they are spread out, you lose track of who is who and who is in the lead. On the TV, you're fed the race stats so it's much easier. These do come up on the screens around the track, but watching them is even more confusing because sometimes you are convinced you are watching the same car go past, but it's not!
Playing when the racing is taking place is weird. The cars are simply deafening - far louder than TV suggests. Everyone wears hearing protection or ear plugs. You can't play the guitar with ear plugs in, so it's very tricky!
We did our sets, and the last one was really good. We got some compliments from a couple from California, who really liked us and thought it rather funny that we were all Brits!
Monday saw us doing some last minute shopping, then off in the hotel shuttle to the airport. Guitars and cases checked in quickly, and we were on our way home A late night landing at Heathrow, and then the long drive back up to Suffolk. Back in my own bed just after two.
A great end to our Arabian adventure.
Next stop ......... Berlin!
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