Lionel Richtea

At almost the last minute, I bought tickets to the Lionel Richie concert and was amazed to get front row seats in the first row of seating at that late stage! (I later found out why).

The concert itself was brilliant - Lionel and his band did a fantastic job of entertaining us for 90 minutes with him singing nearly all his best songs as well as from his time with the Commodores. The organisation and sound however left a lot to be desired; so much so that at one point, I found myself asking for a refund before the show began!

Lots of details best left unwritten; the organiser will hear about it. Apparently you are not allowed to take "cameras with lenses" to a concert. Who would know unless they tell you when booking or on the ticket printout? But please tell me, what camera does not have a lens?? The pictures are from Gs Nokia. Enough said!

Good thing the artist makes such great music that has stood the test of time. Us and THOUSANDS others had a great evening. We sat next to a Nigerian lady who came alone as her friends wouldn't join her and she didn't want to miss it. The weather was perfect and despite the challenges of getting to the venue (Dubai Media City amphitheathre) the setting was quite spectacular! I have never seen so many people at a concert in Dubai and Lionel said we were the loudest audience he had ever played to. We sang quite well too! The picture above shows the people in "Regular standing". It doesn't show the thousands behind in VIP and Grandstand seating! Oh; and the reason why the seats had were still available the day before - it's because at eye level, our view was hindered by a rail! There you go.

Prior to that; I had a lovely lunch with a colleague and help with one small crisis which arose just before the start of a new week of courses. Trying to get 20 specialist books from the UK to Dubai during Easter week closures. A real challenge. Time is of the essence.