Maroon 5 made their Abu Dhabi debut on Friday evening, with their highly anticipated concert at Yas Island's Etihad Arena.
Fresh from their show at the Giza Pyramids in Egypt on Tuesday, the US band took to the stage in the capital as part of the Middle East leg of their world tour.
The night was opened with a lively set from DJ Mailbox to warm up the crowd, followed by a performance from Jordanian sensation Issam Alnajjar, who played viral hit Hadal Ahbek.
Omar Badar, 19, came to concert with three friends. He said he was excited to be back at his first live show since the pandemic.
“I think it will be a good show,” he said. “It’s a cool arena and I’m excited for them to come on.”
Chloe O’Shea, 24, drove from Dubai for the event.
“I love Maroon 5 so I’m excited,” she said. “I bought tickets as soon as it was announced.”
Lead singer Adam Levine energetically burst onto stage, dressed in a grey silk shirt and casual blue shorts, diving straight into 2010 hit Moves Like Jagger, which led straight into early favourite This Love, during which he performed an impressive guitar solo.
“How you doing Abu Dhabi?” he screamed, before heading into Stereo Hearts, as colourful graphics played on the screen behind him.
Ahead of the show, the band spent some time enjoying Abu Dhabi's sights, including taking cars for a spin around Yas Marina Circuit.
Speaking to The National ahead of the show, the band's keyboardist and Grammy-winning solo artist PJ Morton said visiting Abu Dhabi was a special experience.
"This is our first time in Abu Dhabi and it's always cool to see new places and buildings," he said. "I know the guys took some cars around the F1 race track. We know how special these experiences are and we don’t take it for granted.”
He also talked about the band's Egypt concert, describing the experience as "better than the Super Bowl."
“In my opinion, I have to say that it was bigger than playing at the Super Bowl,” he said, referring to the group’s 2019 Super Bowl 53 half-time show, which was broadcast to more than 100 million viewers.
"I have to say that the Pyramids was better because the Super Bowl show goes so fast. It's about 12 minutes and it feels like a blur," he said.
The band's lead singer, Adam Levine, also spoke about experience earlier this week during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "It's not one of the things that you think of as a musician that is feasible or possible because it seems so out of this world to do it," he said. "It's also rarefied air in that they don't just let anyone do it.”
The Middle East leg of the tour will conclude with a show at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park on Monday.
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
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Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Scores:
Day 4
England 290 & 346
Sri Lanka 336 & 226-7 (target 301)
Sri Lanka require another 75 runs with three wickets remaining
