Page 212 - Protec PR Book Volume 2

Envie Events, is the brainchild of two Belgian entrepreneurs who moved to Dubai in 2011 with the goal of transforming the electronic dance music industry of the Middle East. Barry Pavic, an ambitious promoter joined forces with long-time friend and innovative marketer Nicolas Vandenabeel, to come up with a brand that has transformed the nightlife and music scene in Dubai – which is home to people of over 187 nationalities and is a melting pot of diversity.
Having hosted the first world exclusive open-air edition of Sensation in Dubai in 2015, two Mega Night Club operations in Europe and various annual partnerships with globally renowned concepts such as Sensation, Tomorrowland, WMC Miami, and Summer Clubbing Ibiza, Envie Events is well on track to becoming the ultimate destination of choice for events and concerts in Dubai – attracting the entire MENA Region and beyond.
The company’s managing director Barry Pavic said: “Attracting a global clientele and elevating the overall guest experience completely from Entrance to Exit, is the ultimate goal – which translates into shows that fans want to keep returning to.“We strive to make sure that everyone has a good time.”
With such a strong reputation to preserve Protec combined its resources to provide industry-standard video, audio, lighting, backline, stage & set elements and full rigging services.
Tasked with project managing the event for Protec was Simon Travis, interfacing with Envie Events, Backbone International and the Sensation crew from Holland.
Travis said: “Meydan is very different from the usual kind of dance music venue, particularly because it’s a race track so we had to consider the horses stabled there, in terms of noise levels. We had restricted time slots where we could carry out the work. The noise was very strictly controlled as they didn’t want to freak out the horses, though they did move them off site for the show day.”
The team from Envie Events added: “Meydan is a great venue with more than 8,000 parking spots, exceptional infrastructure facilities and the perfect distance from downtown Dubai. This makes it a very attractive venue for a global series like Sensation. Working on Meydan does bring its challenges and having an experienced partner like Protec really makes the difference”.
When asked to detail Protec’s involvement, Travis continued: “The audio was fairly straightforward. We provided 32 flown L-Acoustics K2’s on the main hangs, above which were two K1 subs on each of the hangs – all powered by 11 LA-RAKs containing 18 LA8 amps. For the front fills they set four positions of 12 L-Acoustics Kara enclosures, powered by the LA8 amps. Subwoofers comprised 30 SB28s – 15 a side. L-Acoustics amps and speakers were also used for DJ monitors and wedges which comprised three Kara elements per side on top of a pair of SB18 subs.”
The company used a DiGiCo SD10 as their FOH mixing desk with all amplifiers networked so they could be close monitored, with signal transmission via Neutrik fibre optics.
Processing comprised Antelope Audio lsochrone OCX Clock, Lab Gruppen Lake LM44 processors, MAC laptops controlling playback and processing (including Smaart), and DIs for DJ equipment.
Protec fielded 16 Sennheiser G3 receivers and a transmitter as wireless monitoring for the dancers so they could work with the music and receive feeds from their choreographer. A couple of handheld radio mics covered DJ requirements.
Ancillary coverage was required in two VIP lounges which were serviced variously by a compact Bose PA system and L-Acoustics Syva – which is equally slick and compact.