THE the stage is flanked by two 6m-high camels, dressed in combat trousers and sunglasses. In the distance the sun illuminates the world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai (512m and rising).

The crowd of 8,000 surges forward, a sea of black T-shirts, fists punching the air. “I want everyone to put this fish in the air,” shouts the announcer. Nobody seems to question this command.

This is day one of the Fifth Dubai Desert Rock Festival, which doesn't quite live up to its billing since there's not much desert around. Instead, it's being held on a large, featureless, asphalt-covered car park in what has been designated Festival City.

Like much of Dubai, this appears to be a work in progress. Indeed, some might say that the entire festival is a work in progress. The crowds aren't vast and a “Kids' World” family play tent stands empty for the weekend, apart from a rather forlorn clown wearing a hat made out of balloons. But the event is heading in the right direction.

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What does jar is that we are here to celebrate rock music in all its hedonistic, sex-and-drugs-and-rock'n'roll glory. And the first day is devoted to heavy metal, whose exponents, if the stories are to be believed, are tattooed, long-haired, sons of Satan who lunch on family pets.

But this is also a Muslim state. There are breaks between sets for prayers. The audience and bands are advised not to remove their T-shirts or engage in “any public demonstrations of affection”. No “offensive hand gestures” are permitted and crowd- surfers face immediate ejection. So not quite Iggy Pop country then.

Yet Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Machine Head and the billtoppers Korn seem unfazed by the restrictions. The sound is deafening and the audience young and enthusiastic. Some, no doubt, are expats or their children. Others may be local.

I spot one veil worn under a baseball cap and two girls have pink butterfly wings. But there isn't a single Arab headdress or white dishdashah to be seen. And, despite alcohol being readily available to those aged over 21, nobody appears drunk or even a little disorderly.

Less surprising, considering the stringent drug laws - one man spent six weeks in a Dubai jail after just .03gm of hashish was found on his clothing - is that there isn't a whiff of exotic tobacco.

The loos are also the cleanest I've seen at any festival. As I wash my hands in one of the spotless Portaloos, an attendant stands by busily pulling paper towels out of the dispenser to hand to me. You wouldn't get better service at the Ritz.

The second day is even better. The music is more accessible - Marky Ramone, Velvet Revolver (with a bemused Slash stomping around the stage) and a 90-minute headlining set by Muse - and the crowd is more ready to enjoy itself, albeit in an innocent way. You can make your way to the barrier in front of the stage in about five minutes, saying a polite “excuse me” only a few times along the way. Try that at Glastonbury.

There's also fun to be had in what was claimed to be the world's first suspended music cocktail bar - an open metal cage attached to a crane. You enter it when it's on the ground, order your gin fizz, and then enjoy it while the bar is slowly hoisted more than 50m into the sky.

The festival ends with the popping of eight large balloons filled with feathers and the news that Anschutz Entertainment Group, which reinvented London's Millennium Dome as a music venue, plans to lure acts such as Prince and Bon Jovi to the Emirates, while Madonna is expected to add Dubai to her tour circuit.

So, like it or not, the city looks like becoming a must venue in the rock calendar. But please, no requests for sheikh, rattle and roll.

NEED TO KNOW

New Horizon Travel (00 971 4349 8080, www.newhorizontravel-dubai.com; e-mail info@new horizontravel-dubai.com) will arrange a package to the Desert Rock Festival. Tickets for next year's festival cost about £30. To book, go to www.desertrock festival.com , or ring CSM Entertains on 00 971 4339 0550

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