When Fred Durst reintroduced himself in the 2021 video for Dad Vibes, it was as a greying, sunglass-wearing, tracksuit-clad figure shuffling across the screen. The dancing was bad, the smile knowing and the message unmistakable \u2013 this was the same Fred Durst who had always mixed aggression with obvious comedy, finally free to be explicit about the joke.<\/p>\n
The truth is, Limp Bizkit<\/a> never really changed. The band that wrote Nookie and covered George Michael<\/a>‘s Faith was always straddling the line between heavy and silly, mixing brutal riffs with pop hooks. What confused audiences in the late 1990s was their refusal to pick a side \u2013 were they serious metal or elaborate parody?<\/p>\n During their maiden Middle East appearance at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena, we realised the band was fully committed to embracing the absurdity and that it was always part of the point. The joke wasn’t on Limp Bizkit \u2013 it was built into them from the beginning, from the quirky song and album titles to Durst’s range from laconic croon to dramatic and overly anxious rapping style.<\/p>\n The evidence was everywhere from the opening triple-hit of Hot Dog, Break Stuff and My Generation, which sparked what may have been a first for Etihad Arena \u2013 a genuine attempt at a mosh pit. <\/p>\n Hundreds of fans bounced and collided as the riffs crashed in, singing along to lyrics that were simultaneously furious and ridiculous. Red caps dotted the floor, vintage band shirts flashed under the lights, and the atmosphere was that of a long-delayed reunion with a band that no one needed to defend anymore. Durst himself looked liberated. Gone was the obnoxious and maybe overly defensive swagger of the early 2000s, when he seemed caught between wanting to be taken seriously and knowing his material was inherently silly. <\/p>\n In his place was a 54-year-old in a pink cap and baseball jacket, playing the part of the “uncool dad” with obvious delight. Even in the most frenetic moments, he moved with an easy glide, finally able to let the songs speak for themselves \u2013 heavy when they needed to be heavy, absurd when they needed to be absurd. This shift reflects something larger than one band’s career trajectory. Nu metal’s original problem wasn’t its lack of seriousness \u2013 it was the audience’s, or perhaps even more pressingly, the industry’s inability to process music that could be both crushing and comical. <\/p>\n Bands such as Korn and System of a Down have always mixed genuine darkness with obvious humour, but for years, listeners felt forced to choose between taking them seriously or dismissing them as jokes. Tuesday’s crowd showed they were in on the trick along. Wes Borland’s jagged, inventive riffs is meant to co-exist with Durst rapping about fitting juvenile phrases into songs. They could appreciate the genuine craftsmanship \u2013 the tight rhythm section, DJ Lethal’s textural contributions, the band’s mastery of tension-and-release dynamics \u2013 without needing the lyrics to match the musical intensity. The songs themselves prove this point.<\/p>\n Nookie remains a perfect pop song disguised as metal aggression. Break Stuff is therapeutic cartoon violence set to genuinely crushing riffs. Faith turns George Michael’s slick pop-soul into nu metal without losing either the original’s charm or the cover’s heaviness. <\/p>\n These weren’t confused attempts at crossover \u2013 they were deliberate exercises in genre-blending that have become standard in pop music today. More importantly, this understanding has freed both band and audience to focus on what actually matters \u2013 the connection, the energy and the kind of release that comes from seeing your band growing up well and growing with them together.<\/p>\n The alternatives<\/p>\n \u2022 Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It\u2019s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.<\/p>\n \u2022 Business Bay\u2019s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.<\/p>\n \u2022 Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online \u201ceasier, faster and smoother\u201d via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.<\/p>\n \u2022 2checkout\u2019s \u201call-in-one payment gateway and merchant account\u201d accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.<\/p>\n \u2022 PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method\u00a0–\u00a0usually used for eBay purchases –\u00a0\u00a0but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone\u2019s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.<\/p>\n The details<\/p>\n Heard It in a Past Life<\/p>\n Maggie Rogers<\/p>\n (Capital Records)<\/p>\n 3\/5<\/p>\n Key facilities Director: Brady Corbet<\/p>\n Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn<\/p>\n Rating: 3.5\/5<\/p>\n MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW<\/p>\n Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman<\/p>\n Director: Jesse Armstrong<\/p>\n Rating: 3.5\/5<\/p>\n WWE Evolution results Tentative schedule of 2017\/18 Ashes series<\/p>\n 1st Test November 23-27, The Gabba, Brisbane<\/p>\n 2nd Test December 2-6, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide<\/p>\n 3rd Test\u00a0Dcember 14-18, Waca, Perth<\/p>\n 4th Test\u00a0December 26-30, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne<\/p>\n 5th Test\u00a0January 4-8, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney<\/p>\n Recent winners<\/p>\n 2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)<\/p>\n 2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)<\/p>\n 2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)<\/p>\n 2007 Grace Bijjani \u00a0(Mexico)<\/p>\n 2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)<\/p>\n 2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)<\/p>\n 2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)<\/p>\n 2011 Maria Farah (Canada)<\/p>\n 2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)<\/p>\n 2013 Layla Yarak (Australia) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n 2014 Lia Saad \u00a0(UAE)<\/p>\n 2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)<\/p>\n 2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)<\/p>\n 2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)<\/p>\n 2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)<\/p>\n The specs<\/p>\n Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo<\/p>\n Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm<\/p>\n Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm<\/p>\n Transmission: 9-speed auto<\/p>\n Fuel consumption: 6.9L\/100km<\/p>\n On sale: Now<\/p>\n Price: From Dh117,059<\/p>\n Tips to keep your car cool Ferrari 12Cilindri specs<\/p>\n Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12<\/p>\n Power: 819hp<\/p>\n Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm<\/p>\n Price: From Dh1,700,000<\/p>\n Available: Now<\/p>\n How Sputnik V works<\/p>\n Stats at a glance:<\/p>\n Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)<\/p>\n Number in service: 6<\/p>\n Complement 191 (space for up to 285)<\/p>\n Top speed: over 32 knots<\/p>\n Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles<\/p>\n Length 152.4\u00a0m<\/p>\n Displacement: 8,700 tonnes<\/p>\n Beam:\u00a0\u00a0 21.2 m<\/p>\n Draught: 7.4 m<\/p>\n What the law says <\/p>\n Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.<\/p>\n \u201cSome companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n \u201cAny leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer\u2019s discretion and require approval.\u201d<\/p>\n If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Fred Durst reintroduced himself in the 2021 video for Dad Vibes, it was as a greying, sunglass-wearing,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[35023,64,63,134,136,156,155],"class_list":["post-67604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-arts-culture-team","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-standard","tag-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOlympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m\/25m training lanes
\nPremier League-standard football pitch
\n400m Olympic running track
\nNBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
\n600-seat auditorium
\nSpaces for historical and cultural exploration
\nAn elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
\nSpecialist robotics and science laboratories
\nAR and VR-enabled learning centres
\nDisruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
\nThe Brutalist<\/p>\n
\n\tTrish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
\n\tNia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
\n\tToni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
\n\tNatalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b
\n\tShayna Baszler won the NXT Women\u2019s title by defeating Kairi Sane
\n\tBecky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
\n\tRonda Rousey retained the Raw Women\u2019s title by beating Nikki Bella<\/p>\n
\n\tPlace a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
\n\tPark in shaded or covered areas
\n\tAdd tint to windows
\n\tWrap your car to change the exterior colour
\n\tPick light interiors – choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
\n\tAvoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat<\/p>\n