By Nick Vivarelli
International Correspondent
Last week, Ed Sheeran topped a bill of more than 20 multi-genre artists performing at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Park during the new Off Limits music festival, which aims to become the biggest event of this type in the Middle East.
Other acts included bands OneRepublic, Kaiser Chiefs and Faithless; Ukrainian techno/house DJs and music production duo ARTBAT; Iranian-Dutch singer-songwriter Sevdaliza; and Filipino folk-pop group Ben&Ben.
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Off Limits festival founder Sia Farr, who runs the prominent Middle East events management outfit Theory Eleven Entertainment, courted Sheeran for two years. The clincher was recruiting German stage designer Florian Wieder, who has been behind events including Eurovision, WrestleMania and Adele’s residency in Munich last summer. After Wieder’s involvement, “Ed’s manager ended up trusting the process,” he says.
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Below, Variety speaks with Farr about breaking new ground in the growing Middle East live music scene and hopes for Off Limits’ future.
How did Off Limits get started?
We wanted to create something homegrown, but with world-class status that people around the region, and hopefully globally, would look forward to. Our market is very diverse, very modern, a bit luxury. So that was the initial idea. Also, I wanted to make sure that I could show that our region is able to create content at that level and bring in world-class expertise. That was provided by stage designer Florian Wieder, who has done all the amazing shows for WrestleMania, WWE, Adele and others. He bought into the idea. He loved it and he started working on it, bringing a world-class production level that enhanced our culture and with a more futuristic approach.
How did you pull off getting Ed Sheeran to headline the event?
It’s been a long process. I think I spent over two years cultivating the relationships. I mean, we have been active in the live music scene, but it almost never happens that a triple-A act at that level engages in a music festival at its first year — let alone in the Middle East, which historically does not have the best reputation for quality production. And I say this to the detriment of our markets. We have always had difficulty proving ourselves, so this project is about to change that. Thankfully, due to our perseverance over the past two years, Ed’s manager ended up trusting the process and the project.
How did you help develop Sheeran’s two-hour set?
He was a one-man show. The idea was to give him an immersive stage design that encompasses all the visuals in a way that probably could have competed with his world tour, which was on a circular stage and that was a phenomenal structure. With his set, of course, the big new element is that a couple of weeks ago he came out with his new song, “Azizam,” which is Persian-orientated, and UAE has a very strong Persian community being close to Iran. That was also a major milestone that pulled a lot of Persians from around the region into the show.
Talk to me about the rest of the lineup, both Western and from other parts of the world.
We wanted to make sure to encompass the major demographics that were important for us, and indie rock was important. So Kaiser Chiefs and Faithless were very important for us in the lineup. Faithless put on a massive show, and OneRepublic probably by far stole the show. In terms of opening acts, or early in the day billing, we had Ben&Ben, a big group from Philippines. It was important for us to include the Filipino community and be able to give some support to their talent billed alongside the world’s best. We also had Sevdaliza, the Persian Dutch artist, and, again, it was important for us to give her a little bit of push, to make sure she’s on the bill, because part of our mandate is to support regional/international artists that hopefully will break to the next level. And Zeyne, [the Palestinian-Jordanian singer] was important for us with the current situation around the world. We wanted to share some love with our Palestinian-oriented artists and be able to support them by having them on the bill. Of course, Zeyne has been very successful in recent years. Ed [Sheeran] decided to add her as an opening act for the rest of his tour in Bahrain and Qatar, which is a big milestone for her.
How does Off Limits fit into the bigger picture of the evolving music scene in the region?
Off Limits became the largest single-day music festival in UAE. So that also showed that the market likes to engage if you give it the type of content that it requires. It’s only since post-COVID that this country has been breaking into a more established, more grass-rooted, more multilayered culture that encompasses so many other cultures. So all of a sudden, you end up having a lot of segments of the market that can support a wide range of musical talents. Of course, Mdlbeast from Saudi is leading the way in terms of budget and in terms of the sheer size of what has been happening there. But we wanted to make sure to start gradually and grow in a more sustainable way. I think’s it’s important to mention that Off Limits, even before it started this first year, has already generated a lot of interest from international markets such as India, Singapore, Thailand, China and the Far East with a view of also taking place there. It’s always a dream of every festival to grow internationally, but I never thought this would happen even before our first year. So I think we feel grateful that it ended up becoming successful.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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