Dubai-based event production company Kenkaato has produced the first ever live public music event to be staged in the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park in Doha, Qatar.
The initial concert in a series of music shows planned over the coming months was headlined by Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens – also on his first ever live appearance in the Middle East – and was completely sold out, attracting a capacity audience of 2,800 including VIPs and senior members of the Qatari Royal Family.
Kenkaato designed the site layout, which included a bespoke roof system, with plenty of space and weight loading. A standard Al Laith stage base was used with a, separate, skyward pointing, cantilevered tensile roof structure, the look of which is based on classic Arabic arch architecture.
At 25 metres wide, it had a headroom of 14 metres, and a weight loading of up to 32 tonnes and 2 tonnes on the 7 metre rising cantilever.
The roof was finished with white skins on the outside – specifically designed to be illuminated at night – and black on the inside to reduce glare and reflections bouncing around, and ideal for optimising onstage lighting and video effects. The cantilever was also internally lined in white, allowing another element for light play.
A camera system, PPU and left and right IMAG screens – made from Lighthouse R7 LED – were supplied by CT Qatar for the Yusuf Islam show. Lighting and sound came from Creative Communications Group (CCG), a Qatar-based lighting and sound rental company.
For audio, an L-Acoustics Kudo system was used. The lighting included over 50 Clay Paky Alpha series moving heads and assorted conventionals. Architectural lighting for the stage and roof structure used Griven Kolorado 4K colour changing wash fixtures.
