Abu Dhabi Showdown Week: Red Hot Chili Peppers

ABU DHABI SHOWDOWN WEEK: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

BROUGHT IN FOR A SPECIAL ONE-OFF SHOW, THE LEGENDARY LOS ANGELES ROCKERS MAKE THEIR UAE DEBUT AT ABU DHABI’S NEW INDOOR PERFORMANCE SPACE, THE ARENA.

The inaugural Abu Dhabi Showdown Week saw Red Hot Chili Peppers appear for the first time ever in the UAE. Taking place at The Arena, Yas Island – a brand new indoor performance space purpose-built to host Showdown Week, which culminated in UFC 242 – the gig drew an expectant sell-out crowd. Tasked with supplying the equipment to supplement the touring crew’s kit was MediaPro International. Head of Department Production, George Venter, who lead the project, was delighted with the result. “The event went very well,” he told TPMEA. The band put on a great performance, the sound was absolutely amazing, and the crowd seemed to love it.’’ Venter and his team worked with the touring crew to make sure everything was in place, so the sound matched the energetic performance put on by the band. Fronted by enigmatic Anthony Keidis and legendary bassist Flea and backed up by charismatic drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who is this year celebrating 10 years of playing with the band, the Chilis raced through a hit-packed set that was met with adulation from the adoring audience. “They were absolutely fantastic to work with,” Venter

commented. “They were very specific in the things that they wanted but they were extremely pleased with what we had set up for them. The results spoke for themselves: the show sounded absolutely spectacular.” The PA system in place consisted of a full L-Acoustics rig, made up of 24 K1s, 60 K2s, 36 Karas, 16 K1SBs, 24 KS28s, 24 SB18s, while a Yamaha Rivage PM7 and two Yamaha CL5s were used for control. Fo r lighting 14 Robe BMFL Spots and 20 BMFL WashBeams were deployed, while four Lycian 4K Extreme Long Throw Spotlights were used as followspots. Meanwhile outside the tent, 60 Claypaky A.leda B-EYEs and 80 Mythos were also used for exterior lighting on concert night. Fo r control, two MA Lighting grandMA2 consoles were utilised, along with six MA2 NPUs (both as main and back-up). The overall network was run over a Luminex network system by MediaPro International. Meanwhile for video, Sumesh Vasudevan, Video Crew Chief, oversaw the installation of the LED solution, with MediaPro opting to utilise two brands – Absen and Gloshine. The rear stage screen, which came in at 20m by 9m, was flanked

by two 6m by 8m IMAGs and 14 5m by 3m delay LED screens. “We also had a header LED on the Stageco truss with live content processed by two Analog Way Ascender 48s, along with four display and two production high-spec Dataton Watchout V6 Servers,” Venter explained. “We also had a complete HD projection on the outside of The Arena for the show,” Venter revealed. This was achieved by 17 Christie Boxer 2K30 projectors and 28 Christie Roadster 20K projectors. The overall content was run through MediaPro’s high-spec Watchout V6 Machines – seven display servers and two production servers. Led by Head of Rigging, Colin Silvers, MediaPro’s trussing and rigging department provided all the points and electric chain hoists for the event. The company also supplied 12 twotonne long chains and 14 one-tonne long chains. As is always the case at the tail end of the sweltering UAE summer, the heat turned out to be the toughest aspect of the job. “It was extremely hot and humid,” Venter began. “It tends to get to you when you’re bringing equipment in and out in the heat of the afternoon. Thankfully the venue cooled down in time for the audience’s arrival and it was very pleasant inside the arena.”

Despite The Arena being brand new and completely untested, when it came to large-scale concerts, Venter was impressed with the space, calling it “a blank canvas that can be adapted to whatever you want to do”. He commented: “It’s a tent structure but it’s also semi-permanent. It has been designed really well. Nothing is

permanent in the venue. Everything comes in and gets taken out for each show.” Concluding, Venter commended his team on a job well done. “Special mentions must go to Lighting Director, Harold Fernandes, Lighting Crew Chief, Semynov D’Souza, Audio System Engineer, Nitin Kurup and Production Coordinator,

Croft Clinton. The job had its challenges – install time was a little tighter than we would have liked – but everybody pulled together to make it work. It was a great effort and a great success.” Photos: MediaPro & Abu Dhabi Showdown Week www.mediapro-av.com www.adshowdownweek.ae