Page 242 - Protec PR Book Volume 2

Sensation Dubai 2017 saw the global phenomenon return to the city once more, this time back at Meydan Race Course. With more than a few surprises from the stunning line-up, this event saw the experience come alive with a mind-blowing lighting show, thumping music, theatrical acts and the voices of thousands of screaming fans.
The typically solid line-up of performers consisted of Sensation mainstay Mr. White, Sam Feldt [who brought 3 live musicians along for the ride], Spanish DJ Danny Avila, Don Diablo, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, and headliner Steve Angello. Acrobats, dancers, pyrotechnics, lasers and fireworks synchronised with the music across an unending sea of white, while the crowd embraced the theme; to ‘Celebrate Life’.
The party enforces its all-white dress code as a tribute to Miles Stutterheim, one of its founding members who died in a car accident, and to create an atmosphere of togetherness at even the most mammoth venues.
The show was again produced, organised and promoted by Envie Events. 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.”
CELEBRATE LIFE
Dubai’s own Protec provided video, audio, lighting, and backline, as well as some elements of the set and all necessary rigging.
Simon Travis, Protec’s Project Manager for Sensation Dubai 2017, was on site throughout the 8-day set-up. He began: “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. 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 audio system was relatively straightforward, with 32 L-Acoustics K2’s for the main hangs, which were flown with 2 K1 subs above it for both hangs. For front fill Protec used 4 positions of 12 L-Acoustics Kara. The shape
of the stage meant that a full sub array was impossible, so the team opted for 15 SB28’s per side DJ monitoring came from 3 Kara per side on
top of 2 SB18’s. The entire system was powered by 11 LA-RAKs containing 18 LA8 amplifiers.
Protec’s audio offering also included a DiGiCo SD10 at FOH, Neutrik fibre optics, an Antelope Audio lsochrone OCX Clock, Lab.gruppen Lake LM 44 processors, a Sennheiser G3 wireless monitoring system for the dancers.
Travis said: “We also had a couple of VIP lounges that had to be catered for. We used our compact Bose system for one of the lounges and our L-Acoustics Syva setup for the other. Comms was taken care of by Clearcomm and we used Helixnet for our 9 wired positions and Freespeak II for our 8 wireless.”
Sound Engineer for Protec, Dan Dignan, added: “The Sensation guys are great. We were dealing with Niels from the Sensation audio production team, NoizBoyz, mainly. He’s great guy and so easy to work with. He took care of the desk while I took care of the system. The guys from Backbone were good lads too, Tom and Roden especially.”
The company used its Pioneer DJ equipment for the event, which consisted of a Pioneer DJM 900 Nexus, Pioneer DJM 2000 Nexus and 8 CDJ 2000 Nexus, which allowed the crew to have 2 DJ set ups plus a spare.
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