Official statistics put the UAE’s Irish population at roughly 10,000 and judging by the roar from the Dubai Media City crowd when The Script frontman Danny O’Donoghue posed the question, “Are there any Irish in here tonight?” during his band’s headline set at McGettigan’s Presents The Ultimate St Patrick’s Day Music Fest, we could only assume that most of them were present. “It’s always good craic here,” said The Script’s Production Manager, Colin Rogers, when asked his thoughts on playing in Dubai. “The crowds are brilliant; they tend to be mainly Irish – especially tonight. It’s just like being in Dublin, but sunny and warm instead of cold and wet!”
Rogers extended a warm welcome to TPMEA inside the production office, happy to take a few minutes away from what we were soon to find out was an even busier schedule than you might expect for a Production Manager… Why? Because along with all the normal duties that fall under a typical PM’s remit, Rogers also happened to be the band’s rhythm guitarist – a rare dual role he found himself in for the first time at Romania’s Untold Festival when the usual guitar player was unable to make it at the last minute.
“The first I heard about it was when we got on the plane to head out to a show and Danny came over to me, gave me a fist bump, and said: ‘you’re in!’,” Rogers laughed. “It was our first gig back after COVID-19 with a crowd of 70,000 – it’s fair to say I was a bit nervous, but we got through it, and I’ve been on stage with them ever since.”
Photos: McGettigans
