Stabbing At Jennifer Lopez Concert In Dubai: AEG Odgen’s Thomas Ovesen Speaks

Tyler Allix / www.TylerAllix.com – Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez performs as part of DIRECTTV NOW Super Saturday Night at The Armory in Minneapolis Feb. 3.

A security guard got stabbed at the Nov. 17 Jennifer Lopez concert at Dubai’s Autism Rocks Arena. The story only came out now, because court proceedings have commenced.

According to The National UAE, a group of young men had tried to gain access to the concert using fake tickets. Security guards spotted them trying to sneak in and confronted the lot.

“When we got there, we asked them to hand in the fake tickets but they refused and attacked us,” the security guard told the court. “Suddenly one of them stabbed me in the back before screaming at his friends, telling them to run away saying: ‘I stabbed him, run’.”

Pollstar reached out to Thomas Ovesen, who was the promoter of the show. Back in November, he was still working for 117Live, but is now AEG Ogden’s vice president of programming at Dubai Arena, which is currently under construction. His comments are made strictly in his new role.

He said he was “grateful that we had such a great security team. We actually had a medical facility on site, which is not usual for events. Our first response team acted quickly and helped the injured guard.

“That being said, it is very unusual and it should never become a regular occurrence, that our security team or anybody else working in our field have to fear for their lives when we put on shows.”

As the country builds more venues with solid barriers, preventing people from jumping or kicking in fences, Ovesen thinks it’s important to look at peoples’ frustrations with ticket prices. “Do we need to increase our security outside of venues? That’s something we’re currently looking into.”

Not many concerts in Dubai sell out, due to the high ticket prices in the country and the large capacity of its greenfield venues. The country still lacks a purpose-built venue, which is why all big shows take place on open green fields, surrounded by fences.

Local kids and others who cannot afford a ticket sometimes take advantage of the situation and jump the fence to get in. This wasn’t possible at the Jennifer Lopez concert, because a permanent fence line surrounds Autism Rocks Arena.

This may have frustrated the kids who were trying to sneak in. It is not clear where they got the tickets from. Ticket resale is outlawed in the UAE, which, of course, doesn’t stop scalpers, let alone Viagogo, who allegedly seem to ignore laws in any country. Since tickets are already high-priced in the primary sales, the secondary market is particularly enticing for scalpers in the UAE.

The next court hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 26 in Dubai.