Your definitive A-Z guide to saying goodbye to 2013 and hello 2014
From über cool underground techno parties to full-on commercial cheesefests, there are plenty of festive bashes from Christmas to New Year’s Eve to cater for all musical tastes. Here’s your festive A-Z guide…
A is for Audio Tonic on New Year’s Eve. Mike Bufton and the boys round off another cracking year that’s seen them bring the likes of Bicep, Hot Since 82, Jaymo & Andy George and Tube & Berger to their Audio Tonic parties at the almost-perfect 360° club. With their cool line-ups attracting a wicked crowd of party people, it’s no wonder they picked up the gong for Best Club Night for the second year on the trot at the recent What’s On Awards. At the back of their success lies a solid team of residents and it falls to Mike (aka Mr Mr), Raxon and Rod Lee Winters to lead the party into 2014.
Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, December 31, 9pm to 4am, packages from Dhs950. Tel: (055) 5008449. Taxi: Jumeirah Beach Hotel. audiotonic.net
B is for Barasti Beach Club, the venue that attracts expats like bees to honey. They’re throwing one of their Sugar Beach Festivals to celebrate New Year’s Eve, with American turntablist and producer Jazzy Jeff flying in to put the ‘art’ into party with his scratching and mixing skills. Jazzy’s hip hop career is pretty much peerless but if you need a refresh check out the Wild Style movie from ’81.
Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort, Dubai, December 31, 7pm to 4am, Dhs210 in advance. Tel: (04) 3181313. Taxi: Le Méridien Mina Seyahi.
C is for Cavalli Club, where party people will enter 2014 by stepping back in time to the 1920s. Step into the decadent and glamorous world of The Great Gatsby with flappers, cigarette girls and Gatsby-esque giveaways from the era. What a rather spiffing way to start a new year.
Fairmont Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, December 31, 9pm to 4am, packages from Dhs1,150, Dhs950 for ladies. Tel: (04) 3329260. Metro: World Trade Centre. cavalliclubdubai.com
D is for The Dek On 8, one of our favourite poolside hangouts. House Of Afrika set up camp here on New Year’s Eve for another right rollicking affair with award-winning South African DJ Black Coffee (left) returning as lead party starter. Don’t be surprised to find people dancing on every available makeshift podium.
Media One Hotel, Media City, Dubai, December 31, 8pm to 3am, Dhs200 in advance, Dhs290 at the door. Tel: (04) 4271000. Metro: Nakheel. mediaonehotel.com
E is for Brit Award winner Emeli Sandé, the songstress responsible for such hits as Next To Me and Beneath Your Beautiful (with Labrinth) who’s headlining the mammoth Sandance Festival on New Year’s Eve. As well as enjoying solo success, Emeli has dropped her spellbinding vocal magic on tracks for rappers Wiley, Labrinth and Professor Green. The beachside festival also boasts some big hitting DJs with mass appeal. Formerly one-third of DJ supergroup Swedish House Mafia, Axtone Records boss Axwell has the call up, along with acid house pioneer Paul Oakenfold and the equally influential Pete Tong.
Sandance Beach, Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, December 31, 3pm to 3am, Dhs450. Tel: (055) 2004321. Taxi: Atlantis The Palm. sandance.ae
F is for Flower Power so look out your flares, afro wigs and kaftans to truly get into the spirit of things down at Speakeasy, in JBR, on New Year’s Eve. DJ Ilona Maras veers the party into 2014 with commercial house hits.
Ramada Plaza, JBR, Dubai, December 31, 8pm to 3am, Dhs450. Tel: (04) 4398888. Taxi: Ramada Plaza. ramadaplazajbr.com
G is for Glittery Skies and Guinness Book Of Records. In an explosion of colour Dubai should soar into the record books for the largest fireworks display ever with 450,000 fireworks ready to blow. Yes, your sparkler does look a bit lame.
H is for head on over to the Hilton, in JBR, and take the lift up to the Pure Sky Lounge on the 35th floor. Make an evening of it with a special New Year’s Eve dinner or appear at 11pm to take in the views of the fireworks and drink in the tunes from DJ Lewis.
Hilton Dubai Jumeriah Residencies, The Walk, JBR, December 31, 7.30pm to 2.30am, Dhs1,300/Dhs650. Tel: (04) 3747888. Taxi: Hilton Dubai. facebook.com/PureSkyLounge
I is for Infinity Ink, the hot house pair who round out 2013 at Blue Marlin UAE. While that would be reason enough to get along there, Art Department’s Kenny Glasgow adds extra muscle. With this forward thinking and hot as hell line-up, the Blue Marlin team propel into the New Year firing on all cylinders. This will go off.
Ghantoot Al Jazirah Island Hotel, Dubai, December 31, 8pm to late, ladies Dhs650, gents Dhs850. Tel: (056) 1133400. Taxi: Ghantoot Al Jazirah Island Hotel. bluemarlinibiza-uae.com
J is for Jasmin New Year’s Eve Yacht Party. Setting sail from Dubai Marina Mall Harbour, this is a ship shape way to cruise into 2014. Organised by G List Entertainment, the Jasmin yacht will sail out to sea for the best view of Dubai’s coastline in good time for those fireworks with non-stop music from onboard DJs.
Pier 7, Behind Marina Mall, Dubai Marina, December 31, 8pm to 3am, Dhs900. Tel: (056) 6944538. Metro: JLT. glist-entertainment.com
K is for Keller, as in Florien Keller, who’s bringing his ‘Party-Keller’ vibes from his famous club night in Munich to Calabar for three nights over the New Year. While Keller refuses to stick to one sound, the tunes he drops are always driven by the funk factor. He’s joined by Ohm resident JC Pinto.
The Address Downtown, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Blvd, Dubai, December 30, 31 and January 1, 6pm to 2.30am, free, but there’s a Dhs650 minimum bar spend on New Year’s Eve. Tel: (050) 7258277. Taxi: The Address Downtown. facebook.com/OHMEvents
L is for Lace And Leather Masquerade Ball, as Movida bring a bit of seductive mystery to their New Year’s Eve party. Mingle and flirt behind your mask to a soundtrack of commercial house and popular hits before revealing your identity at the stroke of midnight. No prizes for guessing the dress code.
Radisson Royal Hotel, Sheik Zayed Road, Dubai, December 31, 11pm to 4am, Dhs500. Tel: (055) 1744449. Metro: World Trade Centre. movida-dubai.com
M is for the Magic of Motown This Christmas, with hits from The Four Tops, The Drifters, The Temptations and Barry White delivered by soul singers Ritchie Sampson and Steve Michaels.
Arabian Ranches Golf Club, Emirates Road, Dubai, December 19, 9pm to 3am, Dhs150. Tel: (04) 3607935. Taxi: Arabian Ranches Golf Club. arabianranchesgolfclubdubai.com
N is for naughty. Boys and girls who didn’t make Santa’s list should get themselves along to Cirque le Soir’s Twisted Winter Wonderland, where nothing is quite what it seems with bad Santas, scary Christmas trees, evil elves and mischief-making fairies.
Fairmont Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, December 25 and 26, 10.30pm to 3am, free. Tel: (04) 3324900. Metro: World Trade Centre. cirquelesoir.com
O is for Omarion, the Grammy nominated r&b artist signed to Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group who’ll be pumping out hit after hit during a special New Year’s Eve performance at 2Liv. We expect Touch and Entourage will be on his playlist. Support comes from New York rapper MIMS with Alex Seda and Ejaz on deck support.
Sofitel Hotel, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, December 31, 9pm to 4am, Dhs600. Tel: (055) 9867182. Taxi: Sofitel Hotel. 2liv.ae
P is for People by Crystal, where it’s going to be big, bold, brash and bloomin’ noisy this New Year’s Eve with LA hip hop mash-up masters Far East Movement (above)dropping by to rinse every drop of dirty bass from the speakers. Their want to fuse hip hop with pop, electro and dance aesthetics makes them instant party instigators. DJ Ray Foxx is making a beeline for the club all the way from Amsterdam too.
Raffles Hotel, Wafi City, Dubai, December 31, 9pm to 4am, Dhs350. Tel: (052) 9868951. Metro: Dubai Healthcare City. peolpleofdubai.com
Q is for Q43. It may have been a long time coming but this newly opened bar and restaurant blazes its way onto the Dubai social scene just in time for New Year. From the owners of Karma Kafe, this Media City venue teams cool art with its stunning interior and strikes just the right balance of sophistication and laidback vibes. Yes, it’s been worth the wait. Its 43rd floor location will come in handy too for their Q With A View party on New Year’s Eve.
Office Tower, Media One Hotel, Media City, Dubai, December 31, 9pm to 3am, Dhs900. Tel: (056) 1024298. Metro: Nakheel. facebook.com/Q43Dubai
R is for Rolando. And the arrival of the techno heavyweight to headline at their New Year’s Eve bash ends a cracking year for the truly underground party that is Analog Room. Never veering away from their discipline that the music is all that matters, this is one party where integrity is more important than the bottom line. See next week’s issue for our feature on the Detroit headliner.
The Q Underground, Holiday Inn Dubai, Al Barsha, December 31, 10pm to 4am, Dhs250. Tel: (04) 3234333. Metro: Sharaf DG. analogroom.com
S is for Story Rooftop Lounge, another fairly recent addition to the nightlife scene with great artwork and grass in the ceiling. The outdoor terrace offers great views for those fireworks with resident Nader Razdar dropping the tuneage through the Funktion One system on New Year’s Eve.
Behind Zayed University, Media City, Dubai, December 31, 9pm to 3am, Dhs300. Tel: (04) 3659911. Metro: Nakheel. facebook.com/StoryLounge
T is for Tiki-Town and right on the back of their second birthday celebrations, Mahiki’s Polynesian-themed tiki bar gets a tropical Christmas makeover. You’ll find a hunky Santa Claus bearing muscles and “gifts for all” on two separate dates between now and Christmas, and party tunes in abundance.
Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, December 24, 7pm to 3am, free. Tel: (04) 3807731. Taxi: Jumeirah Beach Hotel. mahiki.ae
U is for U’God, one of the founder members of the Wu Tang Clan. He’s in town will fellow Clan members Cappadona and DJ Mathematics before the end of the month to celebrate the opening of new Dubai club Ego Urban Lounge. It’s a big deal for hip hop fans.
V is for Vanilla Ice, the American rapper who recorded Ice Ice Baby in 1989, which became the first hip hop track to top the Billboard chart. So practise those dance moves for his New Year’s Eve performance for the IDentity crew at N’Dulge. Brothers Marko and Safe Smokingroove take care of the house vibes on the terrace.
Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, December 31, 7pm to 4am, Dhs300. Tel: (050) 7381388. Taxi: Atlantis The Palm. ndulge.ae
W is for Wanted, the underground club night now settled into their new weekly Thursday home at Amnesia Underground (formerly the Submarine Club). They’ve teamed up with House Arrest on Boxing Day evening, calling on top-notch – but often underrated – local DJs to shine without musical constraints. Bloody Tadi and Rich Le Fish are the chosen ones this time out.
Grand Excelsior Hotel, Al Barsha, 9pm to 3am, Dhs80, ladies free before midnight. Tel: (050) 7258277. Mall Of The Emirates, then taxi to hotel. facebook.com/OHMEvents
X is for XL Beach Club where uplifting house and big room EDM bangers will be served up this New Year’s Eve by British jock eSquire. Expect plenty of euphoric, hands-in-the-air moments and a huge dollop of eSquire bootlegs. There’s an aerial acrobatic show too.
Habtoor Grand Beach Resort & Spa, Dubai, December 31, 9pm to 6am, Dhs300 in advance, Dhs350 on the door. Tel: (056) 6406161. Taxi to the hotel.
Y is for Younique, and this Christmas party is certainly that. Your mission is to break in to the vacant Level 9 at Media One Hotel, on December 19, discover Santa’s Graffiti Grotto and dance to a crew of mystery DJs. Doors open at 5pm so make a beeline for this straight after work and get into the Christmas spirit. The most fun you can have with a flashlight.
Media One Hotel, Media City, Dubai, December 19, 5pm to 3am, free. Metro: Nakheel. twitter.com/YouniqueDubai
Z is for Zzzzzzs. After all that partying be sure to catch some.
