Mediterranean sound
Published: MEA
EGYPT: Amr Diab, known as the father of Mediterranean music, recently played his biggest concert of the year at the Marina Porto Golf in El Alamein located on the northern coast of Egypt on July 30.
More than 120,000 fans attended the highly anticipated, once a year Marina event which ended up being the largest production for a local artist in Egypt.
Mr Diab’s annual Marina concert has become a highlight for the Egyptian music scene as it is usually the last concert of the season. As such, this year’s event was met with high levels of anticipation, and Mr Diab put a focus on having high-quality audio and visual equipment for his performance.
The gig itself was organised by Automation Systems Co with sound equipment being supplied by Waveburg. The focal point of the concert was the 10m wide performance area, decorated with disco balls – which drew comparisons to the artwork for his new single – and surrounded by six giant screens allowing the huge crowd to see the show from anywhere. The FOH engineer for the concert was Tamer El-Zoaeby with George Saeed as system engineer. Somewhat unusually, Mr Diab himself acted as both the set designer and the stage director for the performance – just one indication of the importance that he places on this annual extravaganza, and the talent of the artist himself. Moreover, the focus on technical excellence on stage was just another indication of how crucial the audio coverage across the huge audience was.
All of which makes the combination of different loudspeaker brands employed to facilitate even coverage across Marina Porto Golf the more interesting. The sound setup saw 12 d&b audiotechnik J8 three-way speakers flying each side in an L-R arrangement. Further to this were nine J Sub actively driven two-way reflex design cabinets per side along with six Waveburg HTL118 subs to provide the necessary low end. For the far sides of the venue, three JBL Vertec 4888 speakers were used stacked on a further four HTL118s. Also in use were eight Martin Audio Black Line speakers. For mixing, two Yamaha M7CL mixers were supplied, while a Soundcraft Vi6 desk sat at front of house.
Driving the system meanwhile were three WCAD SH 1100 power amplifiers, eight WCAD H 1400 amps, and 15 units d&b D12s were in use. Processing came from an XTA DP 426 two-in six-out audio management processor. For the lighting the company turned to Czech manufacturer Robe to provide the spots and washes required for the show.
The reason behind the Vi6 desk and the HTL118 subs originates from Mr Diab’s technical rider. These were specific requests from the artist and ones that Waveburg were happy to supply. It took a total of four days to setup the site and test the equipment prior to the concert itself.
One of the biggest challenges for the concert, says Waveburg’s Mohamed Ghanem, was the size of the audience. With an artist as popular as Mr Diab, you expect very large numbers for the show – the 2009 event attracted a crowd of around 80,000 – therefore a large audience space was created. It was a long and wide area that needed to be covered by the sound system and Mr Ghanem opted for the combination of d&b, Waveburg and JBL due to the overall system’s ‘power and quality’ combining to provide a good sound experience for the entire audience.
By combining quality A/V equipment with a performance that backs up Amr Diab’s reputation as a superstar, this event has achieved this and more. The 2010 Marina concert will be remembered as the best way to finish the Egyptian music season and will leave all involved with a real sense of anticipation for what can be achieved in the coming season.