DUBAI, UAE – On April 1, the day before the UN-designated World Autism Awareness Day (April 2), Protec LD Aaron Russ lit Flo Rida and Tyga on a temporary stage dubbed the “Autism Rocks Arena.” Kicking off Autism Awareness Month, Austism Rocks awareness-and-fundraising concerts were launched by British born businessman and philanthropist Sanjay Shah, whose young son, Nikhil, was diagnosed with autism in 2011. Since Autism Rocks concerts began, performers have included Lenny Kravitz, Joss Stone, Drake and Prince.
More details from Protec (www.productiontec.com):
A week after supporting a fantastic Nicky Minaj concert on March 25th at Dubai’s latest entertainment venue – Autism Rocks Arena, Protec were back to provide the lighting, rigging and video for the Family Fun Day to celebrate the United Nation’s World Autism Awareness Day, all part of the Autism Rocks Festival.
Co-organized by 117Live and Autism Rocks, the concert on April 1st featured American hip-hop artiste Flo Rida and rapper Tyga. The brand new albeit temporary outdoor entertainment venue was aptly named ‘Autism Rocks Arena’ in celebration of Autism Awareness Month.
Protec’s lighting plan for the concert designed by Aaron Russ, (Protec’s LD & HOD) had just under 350 fixtures that were mainly made up of Clay Paky fixtures that included Mythos, Sharpy washes and profiles, Stormy, A LEDA K20 and K10 B-EYE and LED Show Battens. The lighting plan also included Varilite VL 3500 washes, Jarag fixtures, Molefrays, Gladiator 3KW Xenons, Pixel Smart LED pars and QPars. Aaron operated the show on 2 GrandMA2 full size desks.
Video consisted of a 15m x 7m video wall made up by Protec’s Mambo 9mm LED panels and 2 of 8m x 10m IMAG screens made up of Protec’s Mambo 6mm LED panels.
The festival featured a jam packed, fun filled day of activities for the entire family, the highlight of the event being the two live performances from Flo-Rida and Tyga, both of whom are no strangers to Dubai, having performed in the city before. It was great to see these stars coming to Dubai in support of such a great cause. Both artistes were at the top of their game and the crowds that came in support of autism awareness were treated to high energy performances.
The only thing that put a dampener (literally) on the proceedings was the weather. It rained on the night before the Autism Rocks gig which meant that certain precautions had to be taken in order to keep all the electrical equipment dry. All the lights in the rig and the back video wall were fine as the stage was water proof. The only 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.
