Usher concert great - warmup act is an idiot | ExpatWoman.com
 

Usher concert great - warmup act is an idiot

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 00:55

Just came back from a great Usher concert with DH and kids.

Very disappointed with Virgin Radio though.

Ali Mak - the so-called "dj" who was warming up the Usher crowd before the concert is rubbish.

He played a couple songs with swear words in it - the Enrique Iglesias song "Tonight' but the version in the chorus was "Tonight I'm fu**ing you". Couldn't believe it. Also played another song that had a swear in it.

I'm there with my children (below 12) and and they hear it and look at me shocked.

And he kept playing it! There were loads of young children in the audience! Other parents around were astounded and so were some twenty year olds. Insane.

Usher does his concert and then talks to the crowd and says "there are people from 7 years old to over 40 here" etc... What would he think of having such profanity at his concert? Surely there is some rule from Dubai government and the authorities.

Ali Mack should apologise on air and in public by email/ blog some other way. Else he should be sacked.

And also - not only is this guy clueless about what he is playing, he is utterly rubbish as a live DJ. His sets were poor, they didn't transition well. What a difference between him and the pros - like the guy Usher had to warm up
the crowd. Now that's someone who know what he's doing.

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EW MASTER
Latest post on 13 March 2011 - 08:13
My DD was asked to stop dancing by the parents as she was getting in the way of small children who couldn't see! Seriously, its a concert peolple want to dance! there were small children there ???? :\:
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 13 March 2011 - 07:38
I thought the concert was fab! I really don't think it is a concert I would have taken my kids too as previous posters have mentioned the lyrics/act is a bit racy and also it would of been a bit of a late finish. As for teenagers being drunk, I didn't see any. Everyone was asked for photo ID at the bar, including me and my mate who were pretty pleased to be asked, ha ha. I think if you are taking your kids to see a concert in future, maybe best to think about the artist and the kind of songs that might be played.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 16:20
You are right Izzy, and I wouldn't want my LO to hear such words if I could help it, but then I wouldn't have taken her. Maybe the DJ, as he was local should have known better, but since Usher's lyrics contain such words, and presumably Dubai government knew this and still allowed him to perform, then can you really expect anything different from the warm-up act? Might be better if the power's-that-be didn't allow such artists in in the first place, which would be a shame, but would avoid any such problems. Mind you, I guess then there wouldn't be too many concerts in Dubai anymore... No Elton John, no Bryan Adams, certainly no Aerosmith or Bon Jovi... Better surely to do your homework, find out what kind of artist you are planning to see and maybe avoid the event if they have lyrics such as Usher does, which kind of sets the tone for the whole event. If the OP hadn't heard those words from the DJ, I think she may have still heard them in one of Usher's songs, would it still have been a problem? I'm guessing not if it was Usher singing them. Double standards maybe?
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 15:30
It's kinda irrelevant what the lyrics to Usher's songs are - it's illegal to swear here and also to play music that contains such language at a public event. The DJ was breaking the law and the OP is right, he should apologise for. Whether or not it's appropriate to take a 12 year old to see Usher, well that's a whole other matter.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 15:26
I'm sorry OP, but you shouldn't be taking your under 12's to an Usher concert if you don't want them to hear such words! I don't really know Usher, so just looked up some lyrics, as I would if my daughter wanted to go to such an event. And his lyrics aren't really appropriate for that age group. However, as others have said there have been other such songs through the years that we have all sung along to - but, if you don't want your children to be exposed to those kind of words, don't take them to that kind of concert... As for saying the DJ should be sacked (and whilst I agree he shouldn't really be swearing), he probably didn't realise you were there with your little ones with their sensitive ears... he probably thought the people who were there to see Usher and listen to his lyrics would know what they were going to listen to and wouldn't exactly be baying for him to lose his job because of a few swear words! From all accounts, his language was appropriate for the concert he was playing at. Not his fault you thought otherwise really. As for his DJing skills, can't comment on them...
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 14:44
I'd be upset if I took my kids to see Barney and there was swearing but complaining about it at an Usher concert seems a bit odd. It's a bit like taking your children to a bar then being annoyed that people are drinking. Thought it was a brilliant evening and Usher was amazing. The crowd was amazing too, most excited crowd I've ever seen in Dubai, fab.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 14:43
or...come on baby light my fire... My 16 yr old girl went to it, loved it, danced and sang, came home with no voice, and all is well!! :) 16 is one thing, "under 12" as in the OP's complaint is quite another! I'm glad your daughter enjoyed it. :)
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 13:35
or...come on baby light my fire... My 16 yr old girl went to it, loved it, danced and sang, came home with no voice, and all is well!! :)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 12:57
Just reading about kids singing unsuitable lyrics i am sure i am not the only person on here who sang Madonna 's "like a virgin - touched for the very first time" when 6 years old. ;) ahh memories.. or Prince- Darling Nikki.. Def Leppard - or Pour some sugar on me : )
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 12:50
Just reading about kids singing unsuitable lyrics i am sure i am not the only person on here who sang Madonna 's "like a virgin - touched for the very first time" when 6 years old. ;)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 12:39
My DD was asked to stop dancing by the parents as she was getting in the way of small children who couldn't see! Seriously, its a concert peolple want to dance!
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 10:44
I am more than a little surprised that children were at an Usher concert. That said, given where the concert was held and how much censorship there is on music, I'm (only a little) surprised such language/behaviour was allowed at the event. The VIP tickets were over 21 because of the bar..my teen and his mates went to the cheap seats and he didnt't come home "wasted". Enjoyed the stuff he new but wasn't so keen on all the new stuff and reckoned the girl on stage was the envy of every female in the place LOL !! i wouldn't have taken my 12 year old to it tho...just my own opinion..
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 08:23
I am not surprised in the slightest about the swearing I've been in many malls in Dubai where shops have been playing songs that arent the edited versions even here in Qatar Hubby and I where out last weekend and their was a song playing in a shop that had swearing in it ! Ooh yes,shops like that clothing store Splash reminds me of nightclubs. Loud music often with swearwords
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 08:11
I think a lot of parents must think that the radio versions are the actual songs - please buy full albums before sending your kids to concerts! I was a tad freaked out recently hearing my 11 year old cousing singing the Rihanna song "Rude Boy" (come on rude boy boy can you get it up etc.), but it's her parents' fault for buying her album without checking it out themselves.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 08:10
I am not surprised in the slightest about the swearing I've been in many malls in Dubai where shops have been playing songs that arent the edited versions even here in Qatar Hubby and I where out last weekend and their was a song playing in a shop that had swearing in it !
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 07:55
I am more than a little surprised that children were at an Usher concert. That said, given where the concert was held and how much censorship there is on music, I'm (only a little) surprised such language/behaviour was allowed at the event.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 07:41
Have been a fan of Usher since he first came on the scene and I preferred his old songs last night to the new stuff. Yes there were lots of sexual connotations on stage but worried me the most was the way that many of the young girls dressed and behaved last night!!! Many were dressed much more provocatively than the dancers on stage. Towards the end of the concert, there were so many trashed and wasted teenagers around. One of his next tour locations is Australia where ticket holders must be 18 years of age to get into the concert. Very surprised that there is no such age requirement in the UAE.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 06:48
Are you really that surprised? You took your kids to see a guy who sings about making love in a club, pimpin, taking home bad girls shaking it the way he likes, about how he won't stop until he gets them in their birthday suits etc etc.... I totally agree!! Usher's OMG tour is also known for bringing out a "lounging" chair, picking a lady out of the audience and sitting on top of her (doing a little *ahem* dance).. As far as Virgin radio.. they did get all of the kids of Dubai hyped up by thinking Justin Bieber was going to be there..so I am sure that is why so many kids were there. In the states.. you would NEVER see kids like that at one of Ushers concerts.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 02:44
Are you really that surprised? You took your kids to see a guy who sings about making love in a club, pimpin, taking home bad girls shaking it the way he likes, about how he won't stop until he gets them in their birthday suits etc etc....
 
 

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