Two Christian rock concerts to be held in the UAE this week

Live performances of Christian music will take place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Rajesh Pereira (left) and Neil Thompson (right) are members of the Christian band Rock and Soul. They will perform in Dubai next week. Pawan Singh / The National 

Two Christian concerts will be held across the country over the next week.

More than 2,000 people are expected to attend the events, the first of which — a performance of the musical Rock — will be held on Saturday at Zayed University.

Meanwhile in Dubai, St Francis of Assisi Church in Jebel Ali will host a night of live Christian rock for an 800 strong crowd on Thursday.

“We are expecting people from all Christian denominations to attend the event on Saturday,” said a spokesman for Zayed University.

“Rock tells the story of St Peter and The Book of Acts from The Bible.”

Nine churches from across the Emirates will attend Saturday’s concert at Zayed University Abu Dhabi, which will be conducted by acclaimed Anglican musical composer Roger Jones.

Special guests expected at the performance include Rev Andy Thompson from St Andrew’s Church Abu Dhabi and Noora Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and president of Zayed University.

“This is the very first time we’ve held an event like this but there has already been a great deal of interest from all over the country,” said the university spokesperson.

In Dubai, the parish of St Francis are preparing the finishing touches for their third annual Holy Rock Night in the emirate.

The highlight of the show is expected to be a live performance by the Rock and Soul band, consisting of musicians and singers from the Jebel Ali parish.

The band, which played two gigs at the church last year, has members aged 15 to 55.

One of the band’s most famous performances was when they played to a captive audience at the parish on the same day Pope Francis said Mass in Abu Dhabi.

Band leaders Neil Thomson, 42, and Rajesh Pereira, 50, both from India, said the group was created because of the "huge untapped potential for gospel rock in the UAE".