The VIP Room was the next stop on the UAE adventures of Will Smith’s family.
Smith himself returned to the glitzy club at Dubai’s JW Marriott Marquis Hotel on Thursday night – a week after rocking it with Wyclef Jean – only this time as a rapt spectator.
The Hollywood actor sat on top of one the plush couches in a cordoned-off area to sample a performance by his eldest son, the 21-year-old Trey, to a packed dance floor.
Joining Trey, also known as DJ AcE, in the booth was his younger brother Jaden Smith.
At 15, Jaden may hold the record for being the youngest performer in any UAE club venue. He took his role of hype-man seriously, demanding the audience to “move, dance and party with us”.
In some cases he took on the role of rapper and tried to stitch a few rhymes together over Trey’s blaring dance beats. It was a hard task; the only audible couplet worth mentioning was: “I love you, you love me / Come on Dubai, let’s party!”
It didn’t matter to the crowd, though, some of whom must have got home with a case of whiplash considering how frequently they kept turning their attention from the little Smiths on stage to their proud dad watching them from the good seats.
There was hope Will would eventually join the kids onstage for a few tracks – similar to the duet he performed with Jaden on The Graham Norton Show last year – alas, he played the role of the attentive dad, his eyes rarely leaving the booth despite fans clamouring for his attention.
As for AcE’s DJing pedigree, the kid definitely has a good command of the dance floor.
The near 90-minute set began with an opening salvo of radio hits including selections by Avicii and Daft Punk, before going to more interesting electro-house moments before rounding it off with a few hard-banging original compositions.
Not long after Trey unplugged, the whole Smith crew swiftly exited the club to awaiting cars. After all, their UAE holidays continued with a desert safari the following day.