Protec Returns to Rock'n'Roll with a Triple Whammy

The company, who until recently, has focussed mainly on corporate events having taken a sabbatical from rock and roll for a year, made a dramatic U-turn in March 2016 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 the lights for the very first Korean cultural convention that took place in Abu Dhabi's du Arena on March 25th featuring performances by K-Pop artistes, boy group BTS, Taeyeon from the group Girls' Generation, Kyuhyun from Super Junior, Double S 301, hip-hop group Monsta X, girl group Spica, and pop star Ailee.

The Nicky Minaj concert, organized by the newly formed 117Live, headed by Thomas Oveson (who was previously with Done Events) 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 Minaj's lighting designer -- Kathy Beer and video engineer Daunt'e Kenner, the production was as good as it gets. "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 Beer. 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."

Protec Video's biggest challenge was getting the trim height for the main screen just right, to avoid the risers from cutting into the bottom of the screen, and the top of the screen getting in the way of the back LX fixtures. A total of 158sqm off Protec's 6mm and 154sqm of Protec's 9mm Mambo LED panels were used for the main stage. The Imag screens for the main stage were set in portrait and the content started initially in 16 x 9 format using part of the screen, which then changed to full screen portrait to accept the live camera feed. 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's project manager Mark Battle summed it up when he said, "The production for this gig worked out very well from a technical and logistical point of view. The site was laid out very well, there was plenty of room in the backstage area for all vehicles from different aspects of the production and personnel to move around with ease without getting in each other's way. The stage was large enough with big wings and a large enough area behind the backdrop of the stage to move a festival production around with ease. We had five days to build the entire rig which was ample time and made the build very relaxed."

Meanwhile, the same evening Nicky Minaj was performing in Dubai, in the du Arena on Yas Island, Protec was working on the lighting (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 grandMA2 full size desks) and rigging, for another concert where thousands of fans, mostly girls, from across the country and around the region gathered at the venue for another first. KCON, the world's biggest K-pop festival made its way to the Middle East for the first time on Friday, March 25 put together by Flash Entertainment.

Back in Dubai a week later, 117Live hosted the Autism Rocks festival on April 1st featuring American hip-hop artiste Flo Rida and rapper Tyga. After the Nicky Minaj show Protec had to change the lighting plot to suit the Autism Rocks Festival plan but Arron Russ, (Protec's lighting designer and HOD) also designed the lighting for Flo Rida and was able to utilize the same rigging plan that was used for Nicky Minaj. This meant that the changeover between the two shows was fairly seemless.