Desert dwellers

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Hip-hop superstar Kanye West provided the biggest and brashest performance of the festival, despite his set being marred by sound quality issues.

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Madness.

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Joss Stone.

The unexpected challenges associated with staging a major event in a rapidly developing city such as Dubai were cast in stark reality for Desert Rhythm organisers just a month out from the festival, when, after 37 years of operation, authorities announced the closure of the Dubai Country Club (DCC) for redevelopment.

Given that the Country Club had hosted the first Desert Rhythm Festival in 2006 in addition to each instalment of its more extreme festival sibling Desert Rock since 2004, the news came as more than an unexpected surprise for event organiser Centre Stage Management (CSM).

"We had developed a great relationship with DCC management and it was a fantastic venue for festival events," says Lara Teperdjian, vice president of CSM. "We always try and have a back-up plan in place when we stage these events, but it wasn't easy given that there are very few outdoor venues available in Dubai capable of accommodating a crowd of more than 15,000.

"Ultimately, we settled on the Dubai Media City amphitheatre, because it is regularly used for major concert events. Its central location is fantastic, however we had to scale back our plans in terms of festival attractions because the size of the venue simply didn't allow for them."

The DMC venue's capacity restrictions also thwarted CSM's ambitions for the event in terms of ticket sales.

With a sold-out crowd of 15,000 attending both days of the weekend festival, Teperdjian says CSM could have easily sold another 5,000 tickets per day if space would have allowed.

"We had around 100 tickets available at the gate which sold out before doors opened," she explains.

"We could have easily sold another 5,000 tickets for the show if the capacity of the venue had allowed.

"Despite this, the show itself was fantastic, the performers were happy and the response from the crowd was very satisfying."

Indeed, it could be argued that the size and location of the venue provided a more relaxed and intimate setting for the event, compared to the gargantuan style of Desert Rock, of which the much larger DCC site provided a perfect fit.

Desert Rhythm head of sound Andy Jackson agrees with this sentiment.

"I believe the DMC amphitheatre provided an ideal venue given the scope of the festival," he says. "From a technical perspective, we used exactly the same kit as we had planned for the DCC show, although the size restrictions meant we had slightly less room backstage and for turnarounds."

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