Bahrain - A large complement of Claypaky lighting fixtures was on hand for the celebration hosted by the State of Kuwait at Bahrain National Stadium, following the victory of the Bahrain national team at football’s 26th Arabian Gulf Cup, the second win in Bahraini football history.
The reception was attended by His Majesty the King and many notables in sports and government. Fans went wild cheering the team which scored a victory over Oman to achieve their second title in six years.
Faalyat Event Management was the main event organiser. Showtech Productions W.L.L., an event management company in Bahrain, produced the gala event and provided the lighting design and fixtures. Lawrence Rodricks, CEO of Showtech, was the lighting designer. Claypaky fixtures included 40 Skylos, 40 Xtylos, and 40 Scenius Profiles.
Alex Douglas, a freelance lighting programmer and operator in the Gulf region, has used Claypaky fixtures on a number of installs in the Middle East. The Arabian Gulf Cup celebration marked the first time he had a chance to utilise Skylos, Claypaky’s all-weather, laser-powered beam.
“Skylos was impressive; it was everything I expected from a big light,” says Douglas. “They were punchy and fast with a good zoom range. They also created an especially narrow beam through the deflection gobo.”
He adds: “All the beam fixtures were behind a big rectangular stage in four lines of 20 each. They displayed the national colours of red and white and delivered beams for a region which likes them as far as the eye can see: in the Middle East, the bigger the beam, the better.”
The array of Xtylos created a particularly “bright red, which was key when showing the national colours,” he notes. “Since the event was televised, everything had to look good on camera, and the lights had to hold their own against the fireworks finale.”
Douglas points out that the Skylos’s IP66 rating came in especially handy at the event. “The heat of the day combined with the cold of the night in the desert make the condensation level insane, especially in winter,” he says. “So the fixtures were constantly wet from condensation, but we had zero problems. This was true even for the Xtylos and its IP20 housings.”
The Scenius Profiles were positioned 20 on each side of the stage to act as front lights and base lights for the presentations.
