Well, being an avid fan of the artists, Desert Rock 2005 was a definite treat for me. I was going to witness a festival of artists I grew up on. Seeing Sepultura, Machine Head, Within Temptation and The Darkness on the same bill was not only great, it was something many hadn't dreamt of.

The show started off at 3.00 PM with local Death Metal band Nervecell. For a local band, with limited resources, they were amazing and a great crowd puller. The singer(Rajeh), guitarists(Barney and Rami) and drummer Alan played with a lot of enthusiasm and won a lot of fans. Next were the all amazing Juliana Down, who happen to be my local favourites. For them, this was their second performance at Desert Rock as they have performed at Desert Rock 2004 with the Rasmus. Limp Bizkit were slated to perform on last year's Desert Rock, but they pulled out for unknown reasons. This year, Juliana Down entertained a greater crowd with new tunes.Their new single,Change The World is already getting a lot of airplay and it was not suprising to see how fans and their fans-to be were enjoying every single song they played and its safe to say their performance was great and enjoyed by the masses. And then it was time for the international artists to grace Dubai with music sure to capture the audience. First up were Sepultura, a very well known band from Brazil. With the new singer, Derrick Green, Sepultura shook the foundation of the Dubai

Country Club with their new songs like MindWar and Against, but got the crowd screaming in rage to classics like Territory, Slave New World and Roots Bloody Roots. The sound was great and with everyone singing along to the lyrics, it was evident that Sepultura has a good fanbase in this beautiful Emirate. All in all, Sepultura's set was an eye opener to people who thought metal is all about screaming and has little melody/tune.

There was a break of 20 minutes after the set, so it was an opportunity for fans to relax and regain some of the energy they had lost while screamig and jumping to the tunes of Sepultura, and also an opportunity for them to walk around and check out the stalls selling merchandise and food. Next up were Dutch Goth Metal band Within Temptation, who have been getting rave reviews for their awesome new album titled The Silent Force. You can hear thier single Stand My Ground sometimes on the local radio stations, and I think they are much better than the over rated Evanescence. If anyone finds Evanescence good, then Within Temptation should be awesome. The singer, Sharon had good onstage presence, although the band got down to playing their stuff. The sound was so clear, it seemed as if someone was playing their CD in full volume.

Saxon were supposed to play on Desert Rock 2005, but because tragedy struck the singer's house, they backed out. But at least their tour manager aplogised to the fans and did promise eager fans that if Saxon got the chance again, they would love to come to Dubai.

Next up were Machine Head. AND THIS WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT. Being a huge fan of this band for a decade, I was overjoyed at
the thought of seeing them live.They came onstage oozing with confidence and delivered a set that was so auraly intense, it could make knees tremble. Robb Flynn, the singer was having a great time in Dubai, and was constantly reminding eager fans that what a great audience they were and that he wants to see their hands up for the songs. They started the set with Imperium off their new album and then moved on to some of the greatest songs ever written, namely Davidian, Old, The Blood The Sweat The Tears. The sound was so tight and fresh and the whole lighting and arrangement were professionally done. And then they played a song that got a response that was a testimony that Dubai has the audience who are craving such heavy weights to bless the dormant rock/metal scene. Machine Head introduced
a guest to their set, and this guest was none other than Andreas Kisser, guitarist of Sepultura, and they did a classic cover of a classic song by a classic band. They played Creeping Death by Metallica and that song was well worth the money we paid for the ticket. The way the singer was interacting with the crowd sure had every single audience screaming for more, and by the end of the show, every single fan was satisfied yet craving for more from the band that delivered top notch blistering tunes.

Not being a fan of the Darkness, I decided not to watch their performance. I left during their set and sat down with a group talking about the jaw dropping performance of each and every artist. I was told that the Darkness were brilliant and the set was filled with awesome lighting and British humour and singalong tunes about believing in love, Friday Nights and about keeping hands off his woman and the likes.

CSM, the company that made Desert Rock 2005 happen couldn't have given UAE metal fans a better treat for such a great price.

I give this event a full 10/10, because there is nothing more to offer."