It is the first time that the Space Roof design from Serious Stages and goalposts have been used in combination together in the UAE.
Al Laith Events Services was again working for Flash Events, a regular Abu Dhabi based client. Al Laith's project manager was Jacques Smalberger, and he and his crew - numbering of up to 80 people - worked closely with site manager Jean-Carl Saliba, and Flash Events production manager Lee Charteris.
In addition to providing the stage and roof, Al Laith also supplied the gig with a 2500 seater grandstand, two VIP platforms and assorted other structures, including a FOH platform and follow spot towers.
The stage wings - to the back of the goal posts each measured 10m wide, giving an impressive 45m width-ways spread across the whole structure. The goalposts provided an elegant solution for hanging rear projection screens, and the Al Laith team also built scaffolding projector platforms 9m to the back of these. The main PA arrays were hung off the onstage towers of each goalpost.
The overall build went extremely smoothly for Al Laith Events Services reports Smalberger, taking four days to complete, including all the other site infrastructure. For speed, they used a crane to aid the roof and goalpost construction process.
Al Laith Event Services' Jo Marshall comments, "It was very exciting for us to bring the Space Roof into the country and use it with goalposts for the first time, and I am sure that this will be utilised on many upcoming events."
Il Divo is the latest in a string of events and shows for which Al Laith Events Services - a new division of Dubai-based Al Laith Scaffolding - has supplied creative staging since its launch two months ago.
(Jim Evans)
