Braving the storm

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Bocelli whips the crowd into frenzy in Abu Dhabi.

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‘... and the rain it hammered down’.

"Other than a few inevitable problems we faced with water getting into some of the equipment, it really was a faultless show."

It was the galeforce winds and torrential downpours pre-Bocelli, however, which provided Protec with the most cause for concern. The company was forced to pull down trussing and remove lighting from the stage to shield the valuable equipment from the weather during an anxious build up to the performance.

"Because there were massive storms threatening, we were in a position where everything was all set up and the roof didn't have all the wall panels in place at that point. We feared rain could potentially damage our lighting rig," says Wade.

"So the decision was made to take the lights off the trusses, put them back in boxes, cover the boxes and batten down the hatches.

"We ended up re-hanging the lights and erecting the trusses the night before the opening show.

"We were quite lucky we took the lights down at that time, because the storm did strike and it was very severe."

Makeshift shelters were constructed in various locations around the venue to protect the technology and crew.

"Usually we erect a very simple shade net over the front of house area, and that's something that we remove during the show 99% of the time, but on this occasion, it had to be transformed into a far more substantial structure in order to protect the equipment," explains Charteris.

"Lots of people were leaning under shelter to complete their tasks and we were forced to wrap up almost every joint and cable to protect the equipment from the elements.

"We consumed roll upon roll of plastic. I'm sure the local Ace Hardware thought their ship had come in on Friday."

The small amount of sleep snatched by the production crew involved in the double bill would undoubtedly have been punctuated by nightmare visions of continuous rain, collapsed structures and washed-out gigs.

Thanks to the determination of the hundreds of crew members involved however, these nightmare scenarios never eventuated.

A combination of composure, caution, careful planning, talent and luck were the dominant factors that helped the production crew achieve their goal of ensuring both performances went ahead, despite the enormous pile of challenges stacked-up against them.

"We sat down at the end of each day to discuss the situation in the lead up to the events and revised the following day's plan depending on the weather," explains Charteris.

"Rick [Protec] developed a fairly extensive plan detailing the production turnaround requirements and timescale between gigs which aided our cause immensely," he says. "Obviously, both shows were major successes in the end, so you'll hear no complaints from me."

American author Dorothy Parker once wrote: "They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm."

Let's hope the adrenaline-rush that crew members received during the production of these two performances, doesn't rob them of passion when working on less drama-filled production projects in the future.

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