Turn back time: '80s and '90s music coming to Dubai

There is a season of '80s favourites and boy band classics to look forward to in the UAE

Scottish band Deacon Blue is coming back to the UAE in November 2019. Courtesy Sony BMG 

An roster of throwback acts are making their way to Dubai's Irish Village this autumn and winter. The open air live entertainment will begin on October 24, when temperatures in the emirate have dropped.

First up will be the 1980s with the new wave pop group The Blow Monkeys and funk group The Brand New Heavies on Thursday October 24, who will both be performing al fresco at the Irish Village.

And it doesn't stop there, Scottish band Deacon Blue will be performing on Thursday November 14. Expect the crowd to belt out Dignity and Real Gone Kid on the night.

The Irish Village also has dates for your diary going into spring 2020, when another Scottish musician, Midge Ure, will be performing on Friday March 20, 2020. Ure is a co-organiser and co-writer of Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas?, the Christmas song that raised money and awareness for the Ethiopian famine in 1984. He will be bringing his Vienna tour to the UAE.

Ticket details have not yet been released, but watch theirishvillage.com for information. 

Paying tribute to pop classics 

If you're more partial to 90s pop when it comes to throwbacks, Irish boy band Westlife are bringing their Twenty Tour to the UAE on August 29. They are set to be the third band to perform at Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena, after Maroon 5, who performed on June 14, and The 1975, who are coming on Wednesday August 14.

Plus, next month the Ultimate Boy Band Reunion is taking place on the QE2, and will feature covers from some of the biggest boy bands of all time including the Backstreet Boys, The Wanted, One Direction, Take That, Boyzone, 911, Westlife, Five and Nsync.

The three-night extravaganza will take part on board the famous cruise ship from August 28-29 in the theatre, and on August 30, in the Grand Lounge. Tickets start at Dh180. Visit www.theatrebyqe2.com for more information.