Stars down to

amphitheatre here in Dubai.

“We’ve found most of the big acts we’ve played with to be super-friendly and down to earth.”

Although a show like Party In The Park is the closest Dubai gets to a major festival, there are a few differences between trying to gig in the UAE and playing in Scotland.

“There can be a lot of red tape surrounding permissions to perform and it usually involves a lot of preplanning and paperwork to organise gigs and festivals,”said Gill.

“Usually a musician needs to be sponsored by a hotel to perform but having our own company means we are under our own sponsorship and have our own visas, giving us the ability to perform all over the place.

“You can also still smoke in all the pubs and bars out here, yet you can’t have any refreshments on stage during a gig. It’s a far cry from our gigs back in Scotland. That’s for sure.”

Despite their success and years in the Middle East, Gary can still recall growing up in Fernhill.

He said:“I used to play football on that old Astroturf park at the bottom of Morar Drive and we had a dog called Shane, who we had to leave with my aunt Ada in Burnside when we moved to Saudi Arabia.

“He used to run away from home and up to my gran and papa’s house at the top of Morar Drive, run up the close and chap the door and visit my grandparents.

“He visited once when we were back from Saudi Arabia and I answered the door.

“We hadn’t seen him in two years and he immediately remembered all of us and went absolutely mental.”

The band are hoping to return to Scotland later in the year for more shows.

While the desert lifestyle might sound a dream to those batting through a wet and cold winter, Gill admits there are a few things about Scottish life she misses.

“Being a band made up of Scots and Canadians, we do miss trees and the outdoors,”she said.

“Summer here gets up to about 50