Green Day to play All Things Live in Dubai UAE in January 2025

[Hermione]

4 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said:

I still think by that logic they shouldn’t play Texas or Florida because of the laws violating the human rights of pregnant people. 

I think if they legally weren't allowed to say something about that on stage if they wanted in Texas or Florida that would apply. That's the difference to me, if it directly affects the artist's performance.

1 hour ago, Westerberg89 said:

Missing my point completely. You can't act all righteous & make out that they should boycott the show, when you yourself won't speak out against the religion which rules the area.

You'll stand there and call out Christianity & how bad you think it is, but you won't do the same about the most oppressive, far right religion, currently out there. These countries are the way they are, because they put their religion at the forefront of everything. What it says in their holy book, is what they are governed by. 'Attacking people' ? what exactly do you think you're doing when you call out other religions? You don't think that you're attacking somebody when you call out Christianity?

Laughable really.

Green Day can play wherever the hell they want, but i'm still against islamic laws & the religion itself because it opposes everything that I stand for. But i'm happy to call the religion for what it is. And I ain't gonna stand here & call for half assed boycotts like some on here. If you're gonna do it, do it properly....

Nobody's doing any of the things you're accusing them of. Nobody has even brought up let alone called out Christianity, the only thing that's been called out is UAE's Islamic based laws. Boycotting a country because a lot of people in the country follow a particular religion would be stupid and bigoted. I don't think anyone's even calling for a boycott anyway, just questioning the decision to play (and contibute to the economy of) a country with some major human rights issues that conflict with the band's message/songs, and where their show will be subject to censorship laws.

[Westerberg89]

5 hours ago, Hermione said:

I think if they legally weren't allowed to say something about that on stage if they wanted in Texas or Florida that would apply. That's the difference to me, if it directly affects the artist's performance.

Nobody's doing any of the things you're accusing them of. Nobody has even brought up let alone called out Christianity, the only thing that's been called out is UAE's Islamic based laws. Boycotting a country because a lot of people in the country follow a particular religion would be stupid and bigoted. I don't think anyone's even calling for a boycott anyway, just questioning the decision to play (and contibute to the economy of) a country with some major human rights issues that conflict with the band's message/songs, and where their show will be subject to censorship laws.

It wouldn’t be bigoted to call out a bigoted religion though. 

[Hermione]

3 hours ago, Westerberg89 said:

It wouldn’t be bigoted to call out a bigoted religion though. 

It simply isn't what the discussion is about

[That Dude]

Green Day and Offspring should play in Greenville, South Carolina 400 days a year.  

 

 

[Westerberg89]

20 hours ago, Hermione said:

It simply isn't what the discussion is about

Y’all have a problem with them playing a country that has a questionable human rights record, but won’t dare speak out against the reason for the poor record. 

It’s because of a far right, oppressive, violent religion. That’s the reason for poor human rights issues.

[GreenDayJunkie86]

I know some of you are very passionate about this topic, but this is getting out of hand. I don't agree with the rights in Dubai either, but just let them play their fucking show.

[Hermione]

3 hours ago, Westerberg89 said:

It’s because of a far right, oppressive, violent religion. That’s the reason for poor human rights issues.

And? The reason that isn't being discussed is it isn't the topic of discussion

[suffoKate]

They’re gonna introduce themselves as Allahs favorite band, play the sweet children EP, yell thanks for the oil money, and exit stage left! 

[Westerberg89]

On 5/6/2024 at 12:08 PM, Hermione said:

Kind of lame to play a country that oppresses LGBT+ and women to that extent and is built on slave labour tbh. If nothing else it seems like a terrible PR move

But this 'isn't the topic of conversation'. 

I'm not trying to be contrarian by the way & I'm not trying to anger you & you seem like a cool person, I just don't get people who make statements like the one above but won't call out the real reason countries act that way & have such poor rights records is because of islam. That's just fact.

[Hermione]

5 hours ago, Westerberg89 said:

But this 'isn't the topic of conversation'. 

I'm not trying to be contrarian by the way & I'm not trying to anger you & you seem like a cool person, I just don't get people who make statements like the one above but won't call out the real reason countries act that way & have such poor rights records is because of islam. That's just fact.

What do you want to see in the thread, just everyone posting fuck Islam and fuck Muslims and GD shouldn't play a Muslim country? The reason playing the show has been questioned is authoritarian government enforcing religious laws/censorship laws as well as human rights issues in the country. Nobody has denied that the government and religious laws are Islamic, I don't understand what else you want. If you think the reason they shouldn't play there is just that it's a religious country then they shouldn't play the US or many others either.

[desertrose]

Green Day set to rock Dubai: Less than a month to go

https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/music/green-day-set-to-rock-dubai-less-than-a-month-to-go-1.500011256

[Cris.]

Joining this debate way too late, but I cannot refrain from a good discussion, sorry.

On 5/6/2024 at 9:32 AM, cav9mm said:

Does nobody have an issue with the fact that they are playing a country where Homosexually is a criminal offence ?

 

Being homosexual is officially prohibited in the UAE which Dubai is a part of. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#:~:text=Both civil law and sharia,the partner or the guardian.

 

I am a bit disappointed by this one. Unless Green Day use this as a platform to advocate for equality .

No, absolutely zero issues with this. Actually, I think it's great that they're going precisely because of the disregard of UAE authorities for gay rights, women's rights, and so on. Even if they don't openly comment anything during the concert and even if Billie refrains from kissing any male band members during the show (which for their sake I hope they do refrain from doing these things), just performing songs such as Coming Clean or Bobby Sox during the concert is already a way of creating a space for LGBTQ people during the concert and sending the message that there's nothing wrong with who they are. Exposing the people there to the message that is inherently embedded in Green Day songs is way more beneficial, in my opinion, than Green Day choosing to not to play there would be. Cultural isolation would just be more harmful to the process towards more rights and freedoms for oppressed groups.

If Green Day decided not to play in the UAE because their government is oppressing LGBTQ people and women, it would have absolutely zero effect in the government. I can guarantee you government officials would lose zero sleep over this. The only people who would suffer are fans in the country or in the region who have no other opportunities to see the band. I know that if Green Day had decided not to play in Venezuela because the government is autocratic, women's rights are undermined, and gay rights at best don't exist, at worse gay people are persecuted, and there is heavy censorship and repression against opposition, the Venezuelan government wouldn't have even noticed, but me and all the other fans at the show, and specially those who were not as privileged and couldn't afford to travel to another country to see them, we are the ones who would have been crushed by that (not to mention that from comments in their Twitter account and during the show Green Day seemed to be pro-Chavez, but I choose to forget that 🙃).

All that said, I think it's up to people and activists in the UAE to voice how they'd rather be supported - they know their situation better than any of us do. If activist groups there are or were asking Green Day to cancel the show to boycott the government there, then that's another story and I think in that case Green Day should indeed support their request. But I don't know if such thing has come up.

Now, the other side of the coin for me is how those of us who don't live in the region, specially EU and US based folks, who have plenty of opportunity to see Green Day in other countries, and would actually have to travel to the UAE for the show, choose to engage with this show. I wouldn't go to this show because I wouldn't want to spend any money in the country that could translate to more tax income to the government there. I'd rather see them anywhere else. But I don't judge anyone who might decide to go, because I also know the impact we have as individual is quite limited (again UAE government won't loose any sleep over loosing that tax I would have paid for the hotel), and you could also argue that exposing locals to individuals with different beliefs and mindset is positive for keeping the country moving towards a more inclusive model.