Held in a semi-permanent 5,000-capacity seated performance space on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, the second Saadiyat Nights open-air music series took place earlier in 2025 with Clair UAE supplying audio, comms and radios, working with most of the participating artists to replicate their touring packages.
Among the performers were Clair Global touring clients Jennifer Lopez, Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Lionel Richie, plus Egyptian composer and pianist, Omar Khairat. To overcome any potential noise issues presented by their performances, Clair UAE work out a sound design that would be both concert worthy and resident friendly on the Saadiyat Island.
Audio HOD and System Designer for the project was Dana Beaudin: ‘We designed the system using the L-Acoustics L2 box and gave special attention to control of spill outside of the audience coverage areas. The biggest consideration after this was minimising noise pollution in the middle of an island that is home to over 100,000 people.’
The main PA system and side hangs comprised L-Acoustics L2 and L2D line source loudspeakers, and two KS28 subwoofers in vertical groups of three in a cardioid configuration, rounded out with eight A10s for front fill. A variety of mixing consoles were provided, including an SSL L500, Avid S6L-32D and several DiGiCo models all seeing use over the course of the two-month concert series.
‘The lightweight design of this PA helped our team get the system into an ideal hanging position from the main structure without having to add any additional rigging reinforcement which could interfere with sight lines,’ Baudin continues. ‘We worked with the show designers from an early stage to ensure we were able to fly the boxes high enough with minimal positive angle on the PA to reduce overshoot. To compensate for this and with the VIP boxes situated at the back of the venue, we deployed a pair of L-Acoustics two-way passive point source 5XTs in each booth to keep consistent coverage and clarity on the high end. We also had a small centre hang of Kara to help improve the imaging as the main hangs were quite far apart.’
Wireless systems were Shure Axient and PSM1000’s, Sennheiser 6000 series and Wisycom IEMs, with each artist having a control and monitor package based on their global rider requirements.
‘We had great feedback from all of the artists engineers,’ reports Clair’s Mark ‘Magic’ Ellis-Cope. ‘A comment made often was that turning up in the morning and seeing everything already set up and patched made their lives so much easier’’
The comms design used a Riedel Communications Bolero stand-alone system with NSA-002 units for interfacing with cameras. ‘This provided coverage throughout the main venue for operators at FOH as well as for the stage/backstage areas for crew, stage managers, and the lighting and video teams,’ Baudin says. ‘The flexibility of this comms system allowed us to seamlessly change pack configurations and preferences for the incoming artist teams for every bespoke show.’
More: www.clairglobal.com