UAE music fans were left disappointed yesterday when headliners Echo & the Bunnymen were among the five acts who failed to show for the inaugural Dubai Sound City festival.

The Liverpool band, famous for 1980s hit singles such as ‘The Cutter’, ‘The Killing Moon’ and ‘Seven Seas’, pulled out of their closing slot last night as singer Ian McCulloch was said to be unwell in England.

US hip hop band De La Soul, a big draw for the Friday night, were also late call-offs.

Kele Okereke, lead singer of UK indie scenesters Bloc Party, did not make it to Chi@TheLodge on Friday night for a headlining DJ set, while visa issues put paid to the appearance of South African rockers the Dirty Skirts on Thursday and UK DJ Kissy Sell Out was also pulled.

A spokesperson for organiser New Dawn said yesterday: “Dubai Sound City has been a massive undertaking with over 70 acts coming together in the region in under three days.

“As such we have had a few teething problems, coupled with illness, visas and flight issues meaning that a few of the bands have not attended.

“We understand that people will obviously be disappointed, but we have had a fantastic response to the bands that have played on site and are expecting our biggest crowd yet tonight.” ?

But while some fans were obviously disappointed, the non-appearance of De La Soul certainly failed to dampen the spirits of most of the 4,000-strong crowd of revellers on Friday. In fact only the occasional break for prayer time silenced the good-natured crowd enjoying fun in the sun.

Mancunian baggy outfit Happy Mondays may have been the headline act on Friday night, but for Kate, 36, from Ireland, Australian teen songstress Gabrielle Cilmi along with rising English stars Wave Machine were her personal highlights.

Kate, who bought a day pass for Friday and attended with some friends, said: “Personally, I’ve not missed De La Soul and so far I’ve had a great time. The music and the atmosphere has been great, the set-up has been brilliant.” ?

Matt, a music lover from Manchester, was disappointed to hear of the call-offs.

He had bought a weekend pass and said: “I’m absolutely gutted about the Bunnymen, and De La Soul, I was looking forward to seeing them and they were one of the big reasons I bought a ticket.”

But Matt was still impressed with the new event, and had one real surprise over the weekend - the performance of evergreen 80s English popsters Human League.

“You can’t fault the organisers for the way the event was run… overall it was great,” he said.

Welsh psychedelic rockers Super Furry Animals were due to headline last night in place of Echo & The Bunnymen.

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