Recently, we published an article describing the event that was to take place at The Music Room, Dubai. The Halloween special was supposed to feature Svengali and Coat of Arms on stage, with the night being headlined by Belgian Death Metal band Aborted. However, an angry parent managed to ban the band from playing in the UAE!

Dear fans in Dubai, it is with great sadness we have to announce that our show on Halloween is cancelled. We received…

Posted by Aborted on Wednesday, 21 October 2015

As was written above, that was the official statement from Aborted. It is interesting to note that a similar incident occurred last year when Polish Death Metallers Vader weren’t allowed to play in the UAE.

This is the statement from JoScene and Metal East Records, who jointly co-organized the event.

aborted live in dubai

Due to unforeseen circumstances, it is with great regret we inform everyone that Aborted will no longer be performing the Halloween show on October 30th, at The Music Room

We are as upset with this news as all of you are, however the decision is completely out of our control. We have exhausted every possibility to prevent this outcome but have no other option. The event will still be taking place with another local band Verdict being added to the lineup.
Early bird ticket holders and the ticket prices have been revised, with tickets costing 75 AED.

We understand this is a repeat situation of the Vader show that happened last March!

Although this issue will cause financial loss, we assure everyone that we will continue to support the local scene and organize shows to our utmost ability.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to anyone.

Well there you have it! It’s another occurrence in a long history of censorship in the UAE and other Arab countries. Another major incident comes to mind, when Arab countries banned the film Noah for being ‘anti-Islamic’. Make of that what you will, as the film also received backlash from American Christian Media outlets.

Aborted will be replaced by Verdict, and the ticket price will be reduced to 75 AED.

– Antoine Kanaan.

Read more by:  Antoine Kanaan.
Want to join Metal Bell?  We are looking for authors, photographers, and designers.

Send an email to: joinus@metal-bell.com.

What do you think?  Is the government right ?   Leave a Comment.

Writer’s Recommendations: