PROTEC GOES ROCK ’N’ ROLL

Corporate events have been Protec’s bread and butter for the last year or so, but March 2016 saw the company make a U-turn back to rock ’n’ roll to support three concerts in the UAE, including Nicky Minaj and the Autism Rocks Festival in Dubai that featured Flo Rida and Tyga. Protec also provided lights for the first Korean cultural convention in Abu Dhabi on March 25th.

The Nicky Minaj concert was held on March 25th at Dubai’s latest entertainment venue named Autism Rocks Arena. Protec provided lighting, video, and rigging for the show. Working closely with Nicky’s LD, Kathy Beer, and Video Engineer, Daunt’e Kenner, the production didn’t fall short of excellence. “I have been with her since last year and this is my third time in Dubai and my first time with Protec. Protec is a great company with great gear, lovely crew and everything went swimmingly. I would definitely work with Protec again!” said Kathy. She added, “As with anything we had to make a few changes because all the communication was done via email but the guys were quick to respond and the changes were made without fuss and with great speed. We were also able to end rehearsal early last night which I always love.”

One of the hurdles the company faced was getting the trim height for the main screen just right to avoid the risers from cutting into the bottom of the screen, while keeping the top of the screen out of the way of the back LX features. A total of 158sqm of Protec’s 6mm and 154sqm of its 9mm Mambo LED panels were used for main stage. The Imag screens were set in portrait, with the content kicking off in 16×9, then progressing to full-screen portrait to accept the live camera feed. Nicky’s Video Engineer Kenner said, “This is my first tour with Nicky, about my tenth time in Dubai and my second time with Protec and you guys are great. When I arrived everything was set up the way it needed to be and there were no issues. I literally plug it in and it works.”

Protec had a full schedule that evening, also providing lighting and rigging for KCON, the world’s biggest K-pop festival that made its way to the Middle East for the first time. The setup consisted of around 350 fixtures made up of Clay Paky Mythos, Sharpy profiles and washes, Stormy, A-LEDA K10 B-EYE, Molefrays and Gladiator spots that were run on Grand MA2 full size desks.

Back in Dubai a week later, 117Live hosted the Autism Rocks festival on April 1st featuring American hip-hop artist Flo Rida, and rapper Tyga. The duo took to the stage at the end of the family day to mark Autism Awareness Month.

The only thing that (literally) dampened the proceedings was the weather. Thursday night rainfall before the Autism Rocks gig meant certain precautions had to be taken in order to keep the electrical equipment dry. The challenge was to keep the front truss and the lights on the ‘thrust’ dry. Protec’s Project Manager, Mark Battle, explained, “We had to use plastic sheeting over all of this which worked, even though it was quite windy at times. When we arrived on the show day and everything was soaking wet, it turned out that we had only lost one light due to water damage. The other challenge was that it was also exposed to the wind and sand/dust. The large Imag video screens that we had on either side of the downstage wings had to be monitored very closely. At the end of the day however, it was another perfectly executed gig, with no more rain to dampen anyone’s spirits.

More Info:
Protec: www.productiontec.com