Ed Sheeran Acquired Abu Dhabi’s Off Limits Music Fest Off to Robust Begin

Final week, Ed Sheeran topped a invoice of greater than 20 multi-genre artists acting at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Park throughout the brand new Off Limits music pageant, which goals to grow to be the largest occasion of this sort within the Center East.

Different acts included bands OneRepublic, Kaiser Chiefs and Faithless; Ukrainian techno/home DJs and music manufacturing duo ARTBAT; Iranian-Dutch singer-songwriter Sevdaliza; and Filipino folk-pop group Ben&Ben. 

Off Limits pageant founder Sia Farr, who runs the outstanding Center East occasions administration outfit Concept Eleven Leisure, courted Sheeran for 2 years. The clincher was recruiting German stage designer Florian Wieder, who has been behind occasions together with Eurovision, WrestleMania and Adele’s residency in Munich final summer season. After Wieder’s involvement, “Ed’s supervisor ended up trusting the method,” he says.

Under, Selection speaks with Farr about breaking new floor within the rising Center East dwell music scene and hopes for Off Limits’ future.

How did Off Limits get began?

We wished to create one thing homegrown, however with world-class standing that individuals across the area, and hopefully globally, would look ahead to. Our market could be very numerous, very fashionable, a bit luxurious. In order that was the preliminary concept. Additionally, I wished to be sure that I might present that our area is ready to create content material at that degree and usher in world-class experience. That was supplied by stage designer Florian Wieder, who has completed all of the superb reveals for WrestleMania, WWE, Adele and others. He purchased into the concept. He cherished it and he began engaged on it, bringing a world-class manufacturing degree that enhanced our tradition and with a extra futuristic strategy.

How did you pull off getting Ed Sheeran to headline the occasion?

It’s been an extended course of. I believe I spent over two years cultivating the relationships. I imply, we have now been lively within the dwell music scene, nevertheless it nearly by no means occurs {that a} triple-A act at that degree engages in a music pageant at its first yr — not to mention within the Center East, which traditionally doesn’t have one of the best popularity for high quality manufacturing. And I say this to the detriment of our markets. We have now at all times had problem proving ourselves, so this challenge is about to alter that. Fortunately, on account of our perseverance over the previous two years, Ed’s supervisor ended up trusting the method and the challenge.

How did you assist develop Sheeran’s two-hour set?

He was a one-man present. The concept was to provide him an immersive stage design that encompasses all of the visuals in a approach that most likely might have competed along with his world tour, which was on a round stage and that was an outstanding construction. Along with his set, after all, the massive new component is that a few weeks in the past he got here out along with his new track, “Azizam,” which is Persian-orientated, and UAE has a really sturdy Persian neighborhood being near Iran. That was additionally a serious milestone that pulled a whole lot of Persians from across the area into the present.

Speak to me about the remainder of the lineup, each Western and from different elements of the world.

We wished to ensure to embody the main demographics that had been necessary for us, and indie rock was necessary. So Kaiser Chiefs and Faithless had been crucial for us within the lineup. Faithless placed on a large present, and OneRepublic most likely by far stole the present. By way of opening acts, or early within the day billing, we had Ben&Ben, an enormous group from Philippines. It was necessary for us to incorporate the Filipino neighborhood and have the ability to give some help to their expertise billed alongside the world’s finest. We additionally had Sevdaliza, the Persian Dutch artist, and, once more, it was necessary for us to provide her a little bit little bit of push, to ensure she’s on the invoice, as a result of a part of our mandate is to help regional/worldwide artists that hopefully will break to the following degree. And Zeyne, [the Palestinian-Jordanian singer] was necessary for us with the present state of affairs around the globe. We wished to share some love with our Palestinian-oriented artists and have the ability to help them by having them on the invoice. After all, Zeyne has been very profitable in recent times. Ed [Sheeran] determined so as to add her as a gap act for the remainder of his tour in Bahrain and Qatar, which is an enormous milestone for her.

How does Off Limits match into the larger image of the evolving music scene within the area?

Off Limits turned the biggest single-day music pageant in UAE. In order that additionally confirmed that the market likes to have interaction in the event you give it the kind of content material that it requires. It’s solely since post-COVID that this nation has been breaking right into a extra established, extra grass-rooted, extra multilayered tradition that encompasses so many different cultures. So abruptly, you find yourself having a whole lot of segments of the market that may help a variety of musical skills. After all, Mdlbeast from Saudi is main the way in which when it comes to finances and when it comes to the sheer measurement of what has been taking place there. However we wished to ensure to begin regularly and develop in a extra sustainable approach. I believe’s it’s necessary to say that Off Limits, even earlier than it began this primary yr, has already generated a whole lot of curiosity from worldwide markets equivalent to India, Singapore, Thailand, China and the Far East with a view of additionally going down there. It’s at all times a dream of each pageant to develop internationally, however I by no means thought this is able to occur even earlier than our first yr. So I believe we really feel grateful that it ended up turning into profitable.

This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.