Lebanon's economy has never been great for the majority of the population.. do you think that the surviving 10% of the country would pay $26-68 a week JUST for entrance fees to gigs??
In Dubai the majority of the people that go out are from all over the world- I've only seen like 4-10 locals in Peppermint on the most crowded nights out of 2000 people... and they all work, have disposable income to spend..
This is the truth: in Lebanon when we do gigs I get E-mails and phone calls from friends asking for free tickets cause they can't afford... I try to help who I could among my closest friends- here in Dubai they CAN afford but as CROW called today to ask about Friday@ peppermint I will make sure they let him in with no hassle...
it's not about the money in dubai, it's about getting people in.. if we have 2000 ppl at peppermint at least 300 got rejected at some point...
so it's not jsut security or a "safe" lebanon... it's also an stable /sustainable economy that enables it's people to live/save/and afford such gigs (not jsut the people but sponsors too)
trust me, I'm NOT in ANYWAY against Lebanon, you all know it's my home, my parents, sisters bedroom and my cat all live there... but "making" a living has been very hard... and why we see more and more people leaving as they graduate from university (used to be blamed on the Army Service/Draft but that was abolished over a year ago... people still leaving the country)
Spirit of Lebanon comes with us.. I get nice comments on my facebook page from Lebanese living here that I don't even know that say "you make us proud to be lebanese @ peppermint" and I share that gut feeling with all of you... cause there's a sense of happiness behind being "Lebanese"
anyway.. We have all hoped for a better Lebanon 10 years ago.. but those 10 years have gone by... meanwhile as the world continues to expand, so does one of the world's (if not THE) fastest growing city... and it's only a 3 hour flight away from Beirut... some of these events would happen in Lebanon.. and some would love to go back to Beirut, just not able to for whatever reasons..
Hence- why I'm here to help anyone that moves over from Beirut/ or even just a visit (except JAD that was not supposed to show our security his "20 year old" proof... need to be +21)
JAD 
