d&b rocks on the Egyptian coast.
A short distance west of the great city of Alexandria lies the warm coastal region of El Alamein. Now more famous as the most popular summer vacation destination for the majority of Egyptians, El Alamein is these days host to a significant and celebratory annual event. “Amr Diab is one of Egypt’s most famous singers,” said Hussein Raouf of Technology KAR Inc. “A great star here and across the Middle East, he also has a reputation world-wide, winning World Music Awards in 2002 and 2007, he has performed as far away as Las Vegas.” The highly respected Diab makes just one major concert outing each Egyptian summer and his last event at El Alamein drew over fifty thousand people, Cairo based Automation Inc. (a client of Technology KAR) being fortunate enough to supply the audio system for the great man.
“The show was promoted by Ayman Mohasseb of DDA,” Raouf explained. “He contracted Automation, a well established touring concert company with over twelve years' experience. Automation’s founder, George S. Ayad, started investing in d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker systems from us about two years ago.” It appears Ayad had exactly this type of large outdoor event in mind when he began his acquisitions.
“I’d built the company on local bands, corporate events, and a market for medium sized international acts. I was looking for a line array system; a system that presented the latest technology, easy to rig and optimise for coverage, high quality sound of course, and powerful. It also needed to be durable, and a brand well recognised by international touring artists as we were being approached by a growing number of artists. Increasingly I had noticed d&b on the riders; the fact that this brand is now supported locally through their distributorship at Technology KAR was the key; d&b is the only brand that fulfils all my expectations.”
A d&b J-Series system was used at El Alamein, “Finally we have a system in Egypt that projects loud, warm and clear sound for big events like this,” said Diab’s sound engineer Tamer Zoaiby. “This PA solves a recurring problem for me; I found I either had a good system but not powerful enough, or a loud system of low quality. The d&b J-Series gives power and quality, and that’s without EQing. The guitar sound I got was perfect.” On the day Zoaiby was supported by Raouf and George Ayad. “I can only say that without this system I couldn’t take on such a big event”, said Ayad. “For a star as well loved as Diab you must be confident you can deliver. He performed for over four hours and that’s what we had to live up to. Diab has a special place in all our hearts.”
