A circular centre stage that rotates, with a 360-degree screen overhead, plus beams of fire shooting out of its edges – Ed Sheeran's Dubai concert is as dazzling (and dizzying) as it gets.
About 30,000 attended The Sevens Stadium on Friday evening – throngs of fans from a wide demographic, enamoured by the singer's hit-making virtuosity.
And he did not disappoint. From his contagious energy to the theatrics of the production, Sheeran has seemingly perfected the formula of his Mathematics world tour. He is in Dubai for two nights to show it off, accompanied by opening act Calum Scott, who proved that he's more than just a mere opener. For many in the audience, the entire night was a two-for-one concert.
With his soaring vocals, Scott definitely warmed up the crowd, who sang along to his power ballad You Are The Reason and his defining cover of Dancing On My Own.
The cosiness intensified in the open-air stadium when the British singer became visibly emotional at one point, saying “I've never been more nervous in my life” to a swooning crowd.
From Scott's set, you'd already be made aware of the quality of the production. The sound system, for example, is audibly top-notch – and as it should be, for a major concert at a vast open-air venue, one without the acoustics advantage of a closed hall. Also, it's Sheeran, who is by all accounts a true-blue musician first before anything else, and he wouldn't have allowed a clunky set-up.
Immediately, in his first of 26 songs, Tides, the British singer-songwriter's passion for live performance is palpable. Donning a guitar and running around the circular stage, Sheeran's energy fired up the audience, while literal flames caught people a bit off guard when they started flaring by the second song Blow.
The two-and-a-half-hour set list is a good collection of his discography. A few songs come from his latest album Subtract, while many are lifted from his earlier records. When he played The A Team, Sheeran was candid in explaining how it was the song that ultimately launched his career.
Sheeran's charm on stage is also thanks to his signature live looping. Instead of a band, he creates all of the sounds on stage, deftly layering them on top of each of other using a looper. This is why even when there seems to be a lot going on, with the rotating platform and the overhead screen, the stage is still aptly bare, making the audience focus on him.
He used the pedal system in most of the songs, but there were also tracks that needed the support of other live instrumentalists, such as during Beautiful People, I Don't Care and Galway Girl, where he invited a violinist to join him on stage.
Sheeran's career is punctuated with many chart-toppers, and he knows it. Before singing his 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud, for instance, he pre-empted people's urge to sing along. And people did sing along, also in the case of Perfect (2017), Photograph (2014) and Love Yourself (2015), which he wrote for fellow pop artist Justin Bieber.
The singer broke away from his set list to perform a surprise number, saying how he “really likes the atmosphere” and felt the song needed to be performed, Tenerife Sea, part of his Multiply album in 2014.
Sheeran wrapped up with a few more of his chart-topping songs – to audiences who didn't mind standing for over three hours, and still, with full energy, singing along Shape of You and Bad Habits as the concert came to a close. Of course, a small fireworks display had to conclude the evening.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
More from Aya Iskandarani
PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Courses%20at%20Istituto%20Marangoni%2C%20Dubai
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End of free parking
- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18
- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued
- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket
- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200.
- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200
- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300
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Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:
- Former first lady Hillary Clinton
- Former US president Barack Obama
- Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
- Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
- Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
- California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (two devices)
Results:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 (PA) | Group 1 US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
Winner: Goshawke, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer)
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) | Listed $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Silva, Oisin Murphy, Pia Brendt
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) | Conditions $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
Winner: Golden Jaguar, Connor Beasley, Ahmad bin Harmash
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) | Group 3 $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
Winner: Drafted, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Capezzano, Mickael Barzalona, Sandeep Jadhav
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
Winner: Oasis Charm, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
Winner: Escalator, Christopher Hayes, Charlie Fellowes
MATCH INFO
Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12’) Liverpool 1 (Minamino 73’)
Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties
Man of the Match: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23
Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
