The New York Times hailed him as the “King of Dembow” after a sold-out October show at Madison Square Garden. For the passionate legion of El Alfa fans, this title is more than well-deserved. With his alto, sensual voice and nonstop energy, the charismatic Dominican singer embodies the essence of the bouncy, upbeat variation of reggae that came of age in his nation and has swept across the world.
Recently, El Alfa brought his whirlwind dembow performance to Curaçao for the island’s first major music festival since the start of the pandemic lockdown. For the fans, it was well worth the wait. Their live festival draught ended with a bang, as El Alfa heated up the stage with his rapid fire intensity and smooth moves, all the while engaging the audience with his intimate style.
Enhancing the memorable experience at the festival, which was produced by Beehives Curaçao was a bold and dynamic lighting design by Jimmy Lo-A-Njoe and Iziquiel Goncalves of Massive Productions, which supplied and installed the rig. Anchoring the lightshow and driving its visual power was a collection of over 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
“It takes a village to make show like the Ambiente Music Festival 2021 happen, beginning with the man himself, El Alfa,” said Lo-A-Njoe, of Massive Productions. “Giving all that has happened over the past two years, this festival meant a great deal to live music fans here.
“We were honored that Beehives Curaçao choose Massive Productions to do the event productions on location, and to make sure all went as planned,” continued Lo-A-Njoe. “To ensure the success of this event, we turned to our trusted partners like Franky’s Chairs & Tables, Royal Rentals, The Green Machine Generator Rentals, Quickfiks Cleaning Services, T-Experience Security, Safe, Selikor, Yess Event Power, POSH, Prorent, Fiesta Tou – and of course our Chauvet Professional fixtures.”
The rig’s 12 Maverick MK1 Hybrid fixtures, positioned six apiece to either side of the stage, were used as the main fill light during the show. Drawing on the intense output and tight beam angle of these 440W movers, the designers also relied on them to create an array of aerial and eye candy effects.
Joining the Mavericks in accenting ballyhoo moments (along with ample quantities of fog), were 15 STRIKE 4 fixtures. These high output blinders also reinforced the crowd connection, which is so much a part of an El Alfa concert experience, by washing the audience in warm white light.
Color also played a key role in the lighting design, creating markedly different atmospheres to reflect the various moods of the songs in El Alfa’s set list, which featured a range of hits such as “Banda De Camion,” “Dominiano Soy”and “4K.” For some of the more mellow and reflective tunes, the stage was covered with deep blues that were sprinkled with cool whites. At other points, things heated up with intense reds, pierced by sharp yellows and greens. Then there were more elegant passages where purples ruled.
To spread color throughout the entire stage, the designers relied on 10 COLORado Tri Tour fixtures to serve as truss warmers. However, most of the color intensity was delivered by 16 Rogue R2 Spot fixtures, supported by 16 Rogue R2 Beam and 26 R2 Spot units, which contributed to the color scape in addition to creating aerial effects and crossing patterns of light.
“The entire family of Rogues are our workhorses,” said Lo-A-Njoe. “Since they are extremely fasted, we put them to use creating rapid sweeps for this show. We also used them for specials and eye candy throughout the evening. They’re compact enough to use in a ballroom, but powerful enough to make a statement at the big shows.”
