What’s On announces details of the party at Media Amphitheatre on New Year’s Eve in Dubai, known as the ‘Ultimate New Year’s Eve MasterJam’.


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Dubai Media City will host what is the greatest collection of disco and funk legends ever seen in the region this coming New Year’s Eve.

Titled as the ‘Ultimate New Year’s Ever MasterJam’, the Louder Entertainment show will feature the world’s most famous musical family, The Jacksons, ‘I’m Every Woman’ star Chaka Khan, R&B diva Gloria Gaynor, Grammy award-winning artist/producer Nile Rodgers and Chic, big-voiced Jocelyn Brown, funksters Incognito and disco queen Kathy Sledge. On top of all that, there will be a big band and 24-piece orchestra.

A quick search through the back-catalogue of these iconic names uncovers monster sing-a-long hit after monster sing-a-long hit, all of which gears towards what is being hailed as the biggest disco event to be held in the UAE. And all this at the emirate’s best venue, the Media City Amphitheatre.

Tickets go on sale from Thursday November 20 and will be available from masterjam.ae, starting from Dhs295.

So, what about those hits. Starting off with The Jacksons – Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy and, of course, Michael. The ‘First Family of Music’ from Gary in Indiana now tour as a four-piece having reformed in 2012. Fans can expect all the tracks which catapulted them to fame in the 1970s, such as ‘ABC‘ and ‘I Want You Back‘ and ‘I’ll Be There’.

 

Moving on, Queen Of Funk Chaka Khan will also take to the stage, reeling off the likes of ‘I’m Every Woman’, ‘Through The Fire’ and ‘I Feel For You’. The Chicago-born songstress can count has won 10 Grammy awards through a career which has spanned four decades having first made her mark as the frontwomen to Rufus.

Now how is this for an anthem? Gloria Gaynor, who will forever be loved for her 1978 belter ‘I Will Survive‘, can also count tracks like ‘The Eye Of The Tiger’ among her repertoire.

 

The line-up also feature Nile Rodgers and Chic, the group who rocked Sandance at Atlantis as recently as November 2013. If you’ve been on a dancefloor in the last 20 years, chances are you’ve been dancing to a track written by Nile Rodgers, the one-man hit factory. Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’, ‘We Are Family’ and ‘Lost In Music’ by Sister Sledge, ‘Let’s Dance’ by David Bowie, ‘The Reflex’ by Duran Duran and, of course, Daft Punk’s summer anthem ‘Get Lucky’ – are all from the hand of Rodgers. With his disco act Chic, Rodgers ruled the charts in the 1970s and 80s with classics like ‘Freak Out’, ‘Good Times’ and ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’.

 

Jocelyn Brown’s career has seen her team-up with the great and good of the music industry, providing the vocal to numerous tracks since the late 1970s. Her biggest solo hit to date, ‘Somebody Else’s Guy‘ is, though, her most famous.

Incognito, with whom Brown has performed previously, bring a bit of Britishness to proceedings. The group are credited as having a major impact on the acid jazz movement of the 1980s and have collaborated with countless individuals over the years, making their biggest splash with ‘Don’t You Worry About A Thing’ in 1992.

And then there’s Kathy Sledge, the disco queen whose work with family members Debbie, Joni and Kim as ‘Sister Sledge’ bought about success with tracks like ‘Lost In Music’ and ‘We Are Family’. The four became three in 1989 following the departure of Kathy, though they continue to wow audiences all over the world.

In Dubai, regular tickets will get you entry alone, but real party-goers might want to consider grandstand areas with their own bar and built-in dance floor. For the real disco divas, there’s a Golden Circle, or private Platinum Pods for up to 30 guests.