“That’s it?” fans asked why Filipino artist Ian Veneracion’s show ended too soon despite having waited for two hours. The Ian Veneracion Finally in Dubai show on Thursday night lasted barely an hour, leaving many at the Shaikh Rashid Auditorium of the Indian High School annoyed and disappointed.
The show, which was scheduled for 8pm, started a little past 9pm with games. By the time Veneracion came on stage to kick off his performance at a little past 10pm, a few fans had already lost their patience.
“It seemed that the event was not well-planned,” said Joie, a Dubai resident. “It was boring. They could have done better.”
Veneracion came out of the stage with a rendition of Ray Charles’ You Don’t Know Me, driving the fans wild. “It’s amazing and unbelievable that I’m here on stage singing for all of you,” Veneracion said afterwards, revealing how he had shied away from singing in front of a crowd until he was cast in the successful television series, A Love To Last, where his character, Anton Noble IV, would sometimes sing and play the guitar.
“I’m not really a singer, kinapalan ko na yung mukha ko (I just thickened my skin),” Veneracion joked.
He also performed songs from A Love To Last, including Afraid For Love to Fade and Let’s Stop and Talk Awhile by the great Filipino balladeer Jose Mari Chan, and serenaded ladies who had entered a competition during the show with another Jose Mari Chan song, Beautiful Girl. He also had his own rendition of Ronan Keating’s This I Promise You.
Barely an hour after his first song, Veneracion played the guitar alongside the Dubai-based acoustic duo, Aien and Cris, and sang Home by Michael Buble and Sting’s English Man In New York, which concluded the show.
Although Veneracion is not a singer, he did pull off a good show to entertain his fans, except for the long wait and the rather short appearance.
“They could have added other elements, maybe a Q&A with the fans, to add some variety to the show,” said Joie, who exited the concert after Veneracion’s third song after feeling “bored”. “I felt shortchanged.”
The way the show was produced and delivered was certainly lacking, but overall it didn’t really matter that much for most of the hardcore fans, some of whom came all the way from Abu Dhabi, as Veneracion ably entertained his fans in his own unique ways.
