After a year of rock, hip-hop and pop, it's now time for thumping trance beats to take centre stage with Creamfields' return to Yas Island.
Scheduled on Thursday and Friday at Yas Arena, the Abu Dhabi edition of the global dance festival is running for the third time in the UAE with its biggest line-up yet.
Led by the Dutch trance giant Tiesto and the costumed Canadian house producer Deadmau5, more than 30 artists will grace various stages playing their own blend of dance, electro and house.
Among the global talent on display, the UAE will also be represented by the Dubai DJ Ahmed Benchaibah (stage name: Mister Outlaw), who is set to become the first Emirati and Gulf national to perform at the festival.
This is in no way a token gesture, with Benchaibah having spent years honing his craft inside and outside of the UAE.
The 29-year-old says he's been on the road since he was 18, performing in clubs and private functions in 22 countries ranging from Morocco to Oman.
"I actually played more shows overseas than here," he says. "That does actually make me sad sometimes, but there is just more and better work outside of the country."
Benchaibah - who works for Flash, the events company organising Creamfields - says it's a tough slog to develop as a DJ in the UAE.
He says the cut-throat competition to land residencies has allowed club owners to pay increasingly lower performance fees.
"The problem is, sometimes you get people who want to be a DJ either to look cool or to be liked by girls, so they get 200 songs together and a mixer and think that's it," he says.
"Well, you can do that, but you can't say that you're a DJ. The ones that really do it work and practise a lot. There is a lot of effort needed to do this properly."
Benchaibah says it was through his large music appetite that he first became interested in DJing as a teenager.
At 18, he purchased his first eight-track mixer before buying his first turntables a year later.
While he credits himself as being a "fast learner", he spent his early years practising his mixing and cutting skills up to six hours a day.
Benchaibah then began performing at house parties across the UAE with high-energy sets crossing genres ranging from pop, hip-hop, R&B, dance and Arabic pop.
His popularity among locals and the VIP set allowed him to earn a comfortable living, performing at private parties for a decade.
Last year, Benchaibah decided to hit the public domain and already notched up residencies at Yas Island's Allure by Cipriani and Dubai's Atelier, as well as supporting the likes of Bob Sinclar and Jay Sean.
Benchaibah says the sheer rush of playing his favourite tracks to a huge audience is what he is looking forward to most.
"Sometimes when you are playing clubs you are very limited when it comes to the song list and the styles you can play because people's music culture is dominated by the radio," he says. "With Creamfields, it's mature music lovers. They come to listen to the good music, and for a DJ that is the best audience to play for."
For the leading Dutch DJ Jochen Miller, his initiation to the dance world was a family affair.
At 16, he became the official house DJ for his father's club Top 40 Hits.
While the music was nowhere near stimulating, Miller credits his father's watchful eyes and advice as keys to his growth as a performer.
"My father kept telling me to always keep my eyes on the dance floor and if it's getting empty, then you're not doing your job right," he says. "So the more I kept playing, the more I learnt how to read the crowd and know what they like. That's a very important skill for me to learn early on."
Miller's career grew as he landed residencies at bigger clubs around Holland. He also began making a name for himself for his technical virtuosity, winning the 1999 Dutch Mixing Championships, where he wowed the crowd by spinning on three tables.
Miller is also credited with pioneering the big-room sound, a subgenre of trance music noted for its big melodies and fat bass lines. The masses responded with trance classics Lost Connection, Humanoid and Brace Yourself, while Classified was declared the official anthem of this year's influential Dutch trance festival Energy.
His growing fan base resulted in Miller spending most of his time on the road; this year alone he crisscrossed the globe multiple times playing shows in South America, Asia, Europe and Australia.
It was his June performance in Abu Dhabi where he made his Middle Eastern debut. In it, he played support to his Dutch compatriot Armin van Buuren, who is returning to the UAE for a New Year's Eve show at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Miller explains the tight-knit nature of the dance community is helping elevate the UAE as a touring destination for DJs.
"It was Armin who first told me about Abu Dhabi and said that I would love it," he says. "I had absolutely no expectation, so the whole experience was a wonderful surprise. All the people knew my songs and were singing my melodies. The event was well organised, so I am happy to come back to the city and do it again."
Miller credits the communal atmosphere of dance festivals for allowing DJs to draw a more eclectic crowd than just hard-core ravers.
"You know, dance music is about passion," he says. "To hear the melodies and the beats with good speakers with lots of people - it really is a beautiful feeling."
Creamfields begins Thursday at 8pm and Friday at 6pm at Yas Arena. Tickets start at Dh325. Visit www.thinkflash.ae for more information
sasaeed@thenational.ae
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE
Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)
Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
