The Dubai Desert Rock festival ended yesterday with a glittering display of fireworks and performances by bands like Incubus, The Bravery, Prime Circle, Junkyard Groove and former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant & Strange Sensation. The last two acts in particular, had the crowd screaming for more.
The crowd just wild when Incubus took the stage. And they went wilder when the band played Wish You Were Here and Nice To Know You.
Andrew Melius, a high school student who studies in Abu Dhabi said that the most electric performance of the night was Incubus. “Incubus really rocked,” said Melius who says he will definitely make the trip back the next year.
As the last act geared up to play, one noticed a much older crowd that began to band together close to the stage. 43 year old Anand Sharma, a marketing manager who works in Dubai said that his friends and him had been waiting for a long time to watch Plant play.
“When we were younger, we’d listen to the music on the radio or on tapes that friends who’d traveled abroad would bring back to India. We never dreamed that we’d watch him live, because when we were young, foreign live acts weren’t plentiful in India,” said Sharma who donned a Led Zeppelin t-shirt.
Rock guru Plant tried out a bunch of Arabic phrases onstage that met with raucous applause (‘Salaam alaikoum, Dubai’ and ‘Shukran’). The band also performed other singles such as Freedom Fries and Led Zeppelin classic Black Dog.

From garage to the big stage

DUBAI When you’re sharing cabin space with Iron Maiden and Lauren Harris is trying out the lead guitarist’s instrument, life really couldn’t seem bigger. However, the truth for Chennai-based group, Junkyard Groove, the dream’s not only real, it’s larger than life. The group that won Shamal 2006 has just recently signed a three-year contract with recording studio Creative Kingdom Records, Dubai. The band is now on their way to recording a new album. They feel that it can only get better with time.
It all started, as they say, on Easter night two years ago when frontman Ameeth Thomas and lead guitarist Siddharth Srinivasan sat down and began talking about making the band. “Things just fell in place then when we found Craig and Jerry to form the band. We used to practice like other bands in my garage but I can tell you that during our first year of practice, we didn’t think we’d ever make it here. Year two was different though. We knew we were kick-ass,” laughs Siddharth.
The band was offered a three-year stay in Dubai during the tenure of their record though they flatly refused. “Dubai’s nice, but home’s home,” said Ameeth who is a keen supporter of PETA.
“Dubai’s really gorgeous. Sheikh Zayed Road’s going to beat the New York skyline in a couple of years. Plus, we got loads of friends here, so we always enjoy coming here. Though I don’t think I’d want to live here. It’s a bit hot,” smiled Craig Maxworth, drummer of the band.
Their first performance at Desert Rock was a bit unnerving for the band as Siddharth experienced technical problems midway. “However we saw an Indian flag out in the crowd and that really calmed us down,” said Craig.
The band drew their inspiration from performers at this year’s Desert Rock like Iron Maiden and Robert Plant but also from Dave Matthews, Guns & Roses and U2. “I’m looking forward to meeting Robert Plant the most, though Mastodon and In Flames were nice too,” said Jeremiah Abraham John who was previously a resident of Abu Dhabi.
The value of the contract has yet to be decided on but for now Junkyard Groove are content to play somewhere other than in Sid’s garage.