The new 27,000 square metre MFCC venue is located on a purpose built site at the centre of the Island, with a large parking area and easy access from all directions. It's the largest performance/convention/exhibition space in the country and the only indoor venue offering full production facilities to accommodate medium to large concerts, tours and shows. It is intended to generate a whole new level of commercial fairs, concert, conference, corporate event and live music business in the county, attracting world class performers and leading destination management companies.
The structure is the brainchild of Ruben Caruana of Sign It, Malta's leading event production company. Caruana has been working on the project for the past six years and says: "Malta really needed a venue like this. It's absolutely unique and gives the country the scope to host international artists, trade fairs and conventions of all types all the year round."
Previously, large live concerts could only be staged during the summer months, when the weather could be guaranteed, and the largest available indoor venue could accommodate only 1500 people. MFCC's capacity is 22,000 standing and 10,000 seated. It measures 150 metres long by 50 wide, has 17 metres of headroom and can withstand wind-speeds of up to 30 knots - ideal for the often gusty Maltese environment! Stage size is variable - for Bocelli the dimensions were 60 metres wide by 20 deep. The venue was built by UK-based Arena Structures, and is the same structure that served as the temporary replacement for Wembley Arena during its year long refurbishment in 2005/06. It took just eight weeks from levelling the ground and laying the foundations for MFCC to be fully erected and hosting its first full European corporate event - for holiday giants Thomas Cook.
"We are primarily targeting the conference, convention and event business," explains Caruana, "There's a whole raft of five-star hotels that have opened on the Island over the last two years and with MFCC, all the infrastructure is now in place for Malta to become a leading European conference destination. It's very exciting."
Caruana also thinks it is ideal as a production and rehearsal facility for major artists who want to develop their shows away from the glare of the press before going on the road. Naturally the Bocelli show is seen as a great endorsement of the quality and production values offered by MFCC as a live concert facility.
Lighting for Bocelli was supplied by locally-based Nexos lighting. The rig consisted of Clay Paky Alpha Spot and Wash 1200s and Stage Zoom moving lights, 5K fresnels and Griven Kaleidos illuminating the cyc, all run from an Avolites Pearl 2004 console operated by Gerard Ajius and Ismael Portelli. Lighting was directed by Paolo Marchetti for Andrea Bocelli.
Audio was supplied by Major Tom from the UK - Bocelli's regular sound company. Consisting of a Meyer MILO line array system with a DiGiCo D5 console out front, the artist was mixed by Andrea Taglia and Francesco La Camera. The system was configured as a mono centre hang, plus mono left and rights, all time-aligned, matrixed and with the levels set. The engineer's approach aims to make the audio sound like it's coming directly off the stage - wherever you are sitting in the auditorium. All the onstage mics were Schoeps.
(Lee Baldock)
