Rock on
by John Parnell on Wednesday, 02 April 2008

Slash - say no more.

A last-minute venue change did little to dampen the spirits of punters or Centre Stage Management's ambitions for this year's Desert Rock Festival in Dubai. With just four weeks to go before showtime, the organiser of Dubai's Desert Rock Festival, Centre Stage Management (CSM), was again forced to look for a new venue at short notice.

Over the five years we have been organising Desert Rock we have learned to expect the unexpected.

Following the closure of former venue the Dubai Country Club in November last year, plans to launch a permanent presence at the Al Sahra Resort in Dubailand had to be shelved after construction work on the dedicated venue fell behind schedule.

CSM sought out Thailand-based Malcolm McInnes, site manager at last year's Desert Rock, to reprise his role at this year's event, as well as assuming responsibility for production management. McInnes appointed a team of engineers to work over the course of the two day event."We brought a first class audio team over from the UK headed up by Mike Warren (FOH) and John James (monitors). We also had four other engineers, Jon Lewis, Barry McLeod, Andy Squibb and Andreas Andreou. says McInnes."Mike and John are a safe pair of old hands! Last year in the UK they managed LIVE 8 London, the Princess Diana Memorial Concert and Glastonbury. I also brought in Bob Samithisawad, from Jack Sound Group / United Productions in Bangkok, with whom I have worked closely on a number of shows in Asia, to assist me with the live aspects of the production."

Machine Head.

Meeting the unique audio requirements of a variety of acts ranging from hardcore metal bands to mainstream rockers provided plenty of challenges for McInnes's crew."All of the bands were very specific in terms of requesting certain desks for FOH and monitoring duties," says McInnes. "As is typical at these kind of events, there was a certain amount of give and take in terms of what they requested and what we could reasonably source.

We took particular care in terms of positioning the stage and the PA system [at the DFC site] to minimise any chance of disturbance.

"Most of the bands were happy to use the Yamaha PM5D we sourced for the show. We also provided a Midas H3000 at FOH for the analogue fans, which this year included Korn and Killswitch Engage. Korn had originally intended to bring their own Digidesign Venue desks but had last minute freighting problems and elected instead to use our PM5D for monitors and the H3000 out front."

Muse and Velvet Revolver brought their own Digidesign Venue D-Show for FOH and monitors as well as their own effects."Martin Luiz and John Britto at SLS Productions did a great job meeting our requests in terms of equipment. This is not a straightforward task in a region such as the Middle East where the options are often limited," he adds.McInnes says he and Warren were pleased with the end result, as were the bulk of the touring engineers."We took particular care in positioning the stage and the PA system to ensure it faced away from the nearby Al Badia residences to minimise any chance of disturbance," he explains."The scale of the other entertainment and activities on the site meant that we weren't able to fly delays for the rear of the site as we had initially planned. Despite this, the overall result was very pleasing."In addition to satisfying the console requirements of each band, a lighting design that could be manipulated to produce satisfactory results for each performance was also required.Festival lighting designer Steve Shipman, who also operated the desk for 80% of the bands, worked with each act in advance of the festival to create a range of unique designs."Coming up with a design that pleased everyone was a challenge given the variation in styles of headline acts such as Velvet Revolver, Korn and Muse," says McInnes.An MA Lighting GrandMA console was put to use for each act on the bill except Muse, whose lighting designer Oli Metcalfe opted to use his own Wholehog 3 and Catalyst media server software for the band's integrated video and lighting show."Each band had its own specific settings for both lights and sound but being able to allot individual sound check and programming time to all of them in advance helped considerably towards making the standard of both work seamlessly during their performances," says McInnes."Muse also brought their own hi-gloss dance flooring with them. The reflective finish worked very well to complement the lighting and video design of their show."

Feel the rock!

The change of venue may have posed some organisational challenges but the new site at Festival City provided several practical benefits.The increased room for staging meant a doubling in size of the stage to a massive 60m wide and 27m deep, providing plenty of room for crew to in work comfortably during changeovers.

Muse, Velvet Revolver and Korn each brought [their] own equipment, which required us to organise some considerable storage space backstage.

"The Dubai Festival City site accommodated all of our staging and infrastructure space requirements and the tarmac ground surface made the entire build and de-rig far easier in comparison to working on grass or sand," says McInnes.

"Trying to produce major events at some venues in Dubai sometimes feels like trying to cram an elephant into a Mini Cooper!"

"Muse, Velvet Revolver and Korn each brought all of their own equipment which required us to organise some considerable storage space backstage, in addition to the bands who were using festival desks and sharing festival backline."The extra space also allowed us to preset backline risers for most of the bands whilst having ample load-in access.""The potential for issues arising from the rapid changeover of so many acts within a short timeframe was eased by the stage management team of Chris Taplin (moonlighting from his usual job as Bjork's production manager) and Didi Placzek."We also had an excellent local audio stage team headed by James Gamlough and backline team of Grant Collins and Tim Warderman from AAA."Teperdjian was equally pleased with this year's event and says the company's "Desert" festival brand, which include the Rhythm and now Urban variants, is fast growing international notoriety."Machine Head performed for the second time, after appearing at Desert Rock 2 in 2005."They said they noticed a big change in the show compared to their first visit," claims Teperdjian."It is getting easier to attract the big name bands now. Sometimes we have agents calling to tell us who is available to perform."The big difference about being offered a band is that it means they come on our terms, not theirs, which is a big advantage.American rock radio station radio station DC101 sponsored the event and did its entire show based on Desert Rock and live from the site."The station's crew wants to come back next year as well."Muse have already said they want to come back and have booked themselves in for Desert Rock 2011!"

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Rock climbing

With a new venue and the largest stage to date, the Dubai Desert Rock Festival is chasing a place on the international touring circuit, as Tim Goodyer discovered

The UK television news footage of festival crowds enduring torrential rain and wading through flash floods and mud fields that has characterised the Glastonbury and Reading Festivals of years past is one of the few accolades that the Dubai Desert Rock Festival will not be chasing. But in terms of size and stature, DDRF is squaring up to meet the likes of these and other European festivals - such as Roskilde in Denmark, Primavera Sound in Spain and Rock am Ring in Germany – on their own terms. And, both in terms of scale and billing, it is well on its way.

Having grown from a single-day concert with The Rasmus headlining in front of a 3,500-strong crowd in 2004, to a two-day event pulling in 25,000 fans to see The Prodigy, Iron Maiden and Robert Plant in 2007, this year saw DDRF exchange a patch of desert near the Dubai Country Club for the asphalt of the Dubai Festival City, where there is room for around 60,000 people and there are better facilities, better transport and the opportunity to put on the largest show to date. The new site also provides a rarity in the skyscraper-rich environment of the city – the opportunity to orientate the stage and FOH sound system to avoid reflections from nearby buildings. Better still from the perspective of those who came not only from Dubai and nearby for the show, but from around the Gulf, South Africa, the UK and beyond, was the fact that Carlos Santana had already been through to play the same venue less than a month earlier - and with the same sound system provider, Dubai-based SLS Production. As with the Santana concert, along with the sound system SLS designed and supplied the lights and video facilities, working closely with the headlining bands to ensure that their needs were met in every respect.

Showcasing local bands Nervecell and Juliana Down, and Philippine rap metal outfit Slapshock, higher up the DRF bill were US metal bands Killswitch Engage, Machine Head and As I Lay Dying, with former Ramones drummer Marky Ramone, Korn, Velvet Revolver and Muse taking the top slots - and calling the sound and light shots. There was no doubting the appeal of Muse, Korn and VR and, in Marky Ramone, Dubai was gaining sight of a rare piece of rock’s history. Down at the bottom of the bill for both days were the winners of the Shamal Battle of the Bands, The Galeej Gurus, who took full advantage of the opportunity to prove themselves very worthy of their new status.

Behind the lighting design, veteran designer Steve Shipman is no stranger to events in the region, having worked on the Asian Games in Doha and the Dubai Shopping Festival among other projects. Filling in for bands without the stature and resources to have their own lighting director, and offering support for those that did, his view of the stage was from behind one of two MA Lighting grandMA consoles overlooking the mixing desks at FOH – the other being for ‘guest’ lighting directors. The Festival production chose SLS as technical supplier for this year's Festival supplying rigging, lighting & audio equipment.

The lighting rig itself was suspended from a 24m x 15m stage truss raised 13m into the air. Flanking the lighting, the PA system comprised 12 JBL 4889 full-range boxes and three 4887As per side as the main hangs, with six 4880 subwoofer cabinets alongside. In addition, there were two ground stacks of 12 JBL 4880A subs across the front of the stage. Two hangs of two 4888 boxes were also used for in fill, while 4887s provided side fill and eight 4888s provided out fill. The FOH system represented a step up from that used last year, with different side fills. Ranked neatly backstage, the amplification for the system was a combination of Crown MacroTech 5002, 3600 and 4000s. On the stage, Martin Audio 2100 wedges provided the mainstay of the monitoring system, with several of the bands bringing in their own in-ear systems, along with their own monitor engineers.

The new venue allowed the festival to build its largest stage to date at almost 200 feet wide. ‘It was very tight last year,’ says SLS production co-ordinator John Britto. ‘We have just five to 10 minutes for some of the changeovers and this allows us to move everything very quickly and simply.’
The two days of the event are the result of around two months’ planning, assimilating different acts’ lighting and sound riders and interpreting them into a single system capable of meeting all requirements.

The bands’ equipment was assembled on rolling risers behind the stage keeping everyone’s equipment separate and allowing it to be moved onto the stage as soon as the preceding act’s equipment was clear. Departing equipment was moved directly to an area next to the loading ramp, where it could be packed and loaded into trucks without interfering with the subsequent stage management. On the opposite side, another area was set aside for any aspects of equipment and lead testing as well as housing the microphones and stands – some freshly purchased and brought to the gig still in their boxes. Adjacent to this was the monitor area where two Yamaha PM5D digital consoles (one also purchased specifically for use on DDRF) and an analogue Midas Heritage 3000 were set up.

Either side of the stage were Barco projection screens, showing images from the cameras and - for Muse’s set - mixing in live graphic playout from a computer system at front-of-house. Commissioned for the event from the designer of Iron Maiden’s Eddie, two ‘rock camels’ lent the set a little desert style.

Back at the front-of-house position, an assortment of mixing desks was to come and go over the course of the festival. Overseeing their use, Mike ‘Bunny’ Warren had stepped in at just three weeks’ notice to replace former DDRF regular FOH engineer Andy Jackson. Having headed the establishment of Delta Sound in Dubai (a sister company to Delta Sound in the UK), Mr Jackson felt that DDRF presented a conflict of interests. Mr Warren’s extensive work with some of the biggest names on the live circuit – including Cliff Richard and opera tenor Russell Watson when they played in Dubai, as well as The Concert for Diana and Live Earth from Wembley Stadium and the 46664 concert for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg in December 2007 - made him an ideal replacement. ‘This is on a par with any European festival I’ve done,’ he says. ‘It’s one of the biggest stages I’ve worked with and the infrastructure is great - I’m really impressed. Although this is a very big event, it’s not that complicated because it is so well organised. We’ve have only had two or three site meetings… it’s all run to schedule with no big surprises along the way. All the visiting artists seem to be very happy with the way the whole thing has run.’

The ‘master’ mixing desk was one of SLS Production’s Midas Heritage consoles, which served some of the mixing duties – Marky Ramone, for example - and had all the other consoles routed through it. This included a Yamaha PM5D provided by SLS and others, such as a Midas desk belonging to Korn, a DiGiCo D5 for Velvet Revolver, and a Digidesign Profile for Muse, that were brought in for specific sets. ‘You couldn’t wish for better gear,’ says Mr Warren. ‘We have the Heritages for the “traditional” people and the PM5D doing most of the work because of its recall. Muse is pretty much a self-contained set-up.’

Billed as ‘the best live band in the world’ in the DDRF publicity, Muse were always going to give the crowd the best show for their money – and probably the best music too. FOH passed to Marc Carolan, Muse’s regular engineer for six years, and a 16-fader Profile flanked by two outboard racks – one with processing for the stage mics and the other primarily for effects units. With Neumann KMS105 mics on the vocals, a Royer R-122 active ribbon for Matthew Bellamy’s guitar, beyerdynamic M88 and Shure SM57 on Chris Wolstenholme’s bass and various dynamics and condensers on Dominic Howard’s drum kit, Mr Carolan had been extremely selective in his outboard - Midas XL42 preamps; Empirical Labs Distressors and BSS Audio 901 multiband compressors for the vocals; dbx 160 compressors on kick and snare; a Tube-Tech LCA-2B compressor-limiter on bass and guitar and an Alan Smart C2 dual-channel compressor on the piano. Outboard effects processing was down to an Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer for vocals and Yamaha SPX2000 for the drums. But that’s not the whole story.

The three-piece Muse line-up is supplemented by onstage support from the band’s guitar/keyboard programmer tech Des Broadbery, who uses a Novation Remote Zero keyboard to add in some of the synth/sequence parts that are a big part of the band’s sound. In addition, there are additional parts spun in from Mackie HDR24s, and sent as stereo inputs to FOH from a Yamaha 01V desk.

Back at FOH, Muse’s regular lighting and visual designer Oli Metcalf runs the light show and adds in computer-generated graphics live from Macintosh computer using SAMSC Designs Catalyst media server software and a Kinesys automation system. Some of the Catalyst clips are also activated by Midi signals from the stage. It all adds up to an impressive show, and one that went down well with the DDRF crowd. It’s gone well for or Bunny Warren too, who is ready to go to Bahrain soon after with Simply Red for the F1 Grand Prix. ‘Marc [Carolan] and the production team were very happy the way things went,’ he concludes. ‘He commented that it is the best sounding VerTec system he has heard.’
And next year? ‘I would love to be involved in next year’s DDRF, ‘ he enthuses.

With the various stalls and tents, the Infusion Dance Tent and a ‘suspended’ bar (a platform with bar and its own sound system that was hoisted up during each band’s set - the world’s highest suspended bar, naturally), DDRF has all the trappings of a successful international rock festival. With the successful delivery of the 2008 festival safely in the bag, the organisers can feel secure in the knowledge that they have done just that.