ZoukOut saw 40,000 partygoers drawn to the dusk-to-dawn event, over two days, on the 8th and 9th of December 2017. Headlined by acts such as DJ Snake, Marshmello, Rich Chigga and Higher Brothers, the 17th edition of this iconic electronic music festival saw Digital Aid Projects (D8 Group) from Malaysia, being handed responsibility for production support for the first time in ZoukOut’s history.

When asked how they managed to snag such a project, D8 Group said: “When the Genting group took over Zouk, they implemented a three-company tender for ZoukOut – three companies were invited to pitch (for the event). We have had a good track record of doing events at Genting’s The Ranch, where we have done the Good Vibes Festival for the past few years, and we are proud to say we won the pitch based on our creative design and world-class equipment.”

Although this is the second time the professional audio and lighting agency has worked on an event in Sentosa (they had previously worked on a smaller event at Sentosa’s Wave House), this was the first time D8 Group worked on ZoukOut, and accredited the festival’s success to their local supporters: Stage 4 Production, who provided lighting and LED support as well as ran site management for the Star Stage; Titan AVL, who provided structural and roof support for the Star Stage; Harman Professional APAC, who provided audio support with their new JBL speakers; and Alpha Manpower, who were the riggers for audio and lighting.

While Stage 4 busied themselves with the Star Stage, D8 Group took responsibility for the set-up of ZoukOut’s main stage – the Moon Stage.

With gear brought in from Kuala Lumpur through multiple 40-foot-tall trailers, set-up began on the 20th of November for the base plates and layer structure.

The main stage concept aimed to be the festival’s “mane” attraction, and D8 Group delivered: the 18m-tall and 34m-wide lion head that spanned the entirety of the Moon Stage was meant to represent Singapore’s iconic Merlion, and was also the first time that 3D props had been used for a stage, in ZoukOut.

However, setting up was a challenge from day one. One of the downsides to working on an outdoor set- up was the unpredictability of the weather and difficult environmental conditions – the team had to work on sand, and the weather was no help, with rain pouring every day right up to two days before the start of the festival. D8 Group took it all in their stride, though, and shares that with patience and teamwork they worked into the early hours of the morning and managed to pull it off.

Featuring in the Moon Stage as Front of House speakers were the L’Acoustics K2 Speakers. These was the first time L’Acoustics speakers had made their presence at a ZoukOut festival. D8 Group believed the L’Acoustics speakers were best suited for the venue, with the SPL at 98dB throughout the whole venue which measured approximately 100m length and 50m across – this could have gone higher but D8 Group shares that they were asked to keep the sound levels reasonable so as not to affect the numerous hotels in the area.

“We also had to make sure the sound did not bleed into the Star Stage – the K2 has proven itself to be a powerful system which can go much further, but we had to be wary with our boundaries… We had to take into consideration the placement of the speakers and how the array came down.”

SPEAKER CONFIGURATIONS
Moon Stage:

• L’Accoustics K2 x 32 units (Main Hang)
• LA’coustics K2 x 4 units (Front Fill)
• L’Accoustics SB 28 x 32 units
• L’Accoustics K1SB x 8 units
• L’Acoustics Kara x 6 units (DJ Monitor)
• L Acoustics SB 18 x 2 units (DJ subs)

Star Stage:

• JBL VTX A12 x 16 units (Main Hang)
• JBL VTX V20 x 3 Units (Front Fills)
• JBL G28 Subwoofers x 12 units
• JBL VTX F35 x 2 units (DJ Monitor)
• JBL S25 Subwoofer x 2 units (DJ Subs)

The entire infrastructure for the Moon Stage ran on AES, while the FOH console ran on Avid Profile with Waves plug-ins.

LIGHTING CONFIGURATIONS
Moon Stage:

• CLAY PAKY ALPHA SPOT 1500 HPE 28 Units
• CLAY PAKY SHARPY 41 Units
• ROBE BMFL BLADE 8 Units
• SGM SIX PACK 26 Units
• SGM Q7 28 Units
• PR X-LED 28 Units
• GRAND MA FULL SIZE 1 Unit
• GRAND MA LITE 1 Unit

Star Stage:

• CLAY PAKY – B EYE K10 6 Units
• ROBE SPIKEY 38 Units
• CLAY PAKY 700 6 Units
• EK PUNCH LIGHT 8 Units
• MARTIN ATOMICS STROBE 8 Units
• GRAND MA LITE 1 Unit

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