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Bandit on Top for Fashion Show
The project was managed for Bandit by Lester Cobrin who has worked with Gaskell several times in the past. Gaskell and his partner Nick Gray of Renegade Lighting were asked onboard by event producers 9PR, who are regular clients. Gaskell is a well known rock ‘n’ roll LD, renowned for his work with dance gurus Fatboy Slim and Orbital among many others. 9PR wanted plenty of drama and theatrical moments in the show, and the lighting was integral to achieving this.
Lester Cobrin comments: “Jonny is one of the most talented and enthusiastic LD’s I’ve had the pleasure of working with. He has tremendous vision and the end product is always refreshing and innovative.”
Gaskell had to light the show and catwalk area in a 150ft long marquee, featuring a central stage area with four runways coming off it at right angles and an imposing scenic entrance at one end. Outside this room, the magnificent Syon House conservatory area was transformed into a nightclub space in which guests could chill out, and Gaskell’s brief also included the decorative illumination of the gardens.
“It was great to be working with Bandit again,” he says. “Their price was excellent and it was obvious in many ways that they really wanted the contract. They supplied a great crew including two of their top people – Roger Grybowicz and Rob Starksfield.”
The set and stage was designed by Andy Cobb, as was the spectacular Bedouin tent bar and eating area outside.
Gaskell lit the runways with 130 Source Four profiles, hung from overhead trusses. The stage had two concentric trusses above it, complete with a 4ft diameter mirrorball hung in the centre. The Source Fours were used to give smooth and even lighting on the models and to emphasise the natural tones of their skin and the clothes.
Everything was ground supported. In the show area, this entailed two 4-legged ground support systems, one above the stage in the centre and one at the ‘entrance’ end of the room. These were used to support all the overhead trusses. Dave Roe was the head rigger and all the rigging equipment and trussing was supplied by Jon Bray at Summit Steel.
The Top Shop show was split into men and women’s sections, each of which was then subdivided into different clothing genres and moods. Gaskell was given a synopsis beforehand revealing the format of the themes and clothes.
The Men’s show was required to look grungier with a more rock ‘n’ roll vibe, so Gaskell used 16 bars of ACLs, 12 Moles and eight Atomic strobes to add some classic rock ‘n’ roll visual moments during the performance.
The moving lights were 24 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles and 20 MAC 2000 washes plus 20 High End PC beams – all spread out over centre stage and along the catwalk trusses. These were used to match and contrast the themes of each show, adding colour, drama and layering at the appropriate moments.
The Men were lit in steel blues and a starker more contrasted film noir style of lighting, while the girls were lit in warmer more evenly spread colours, giving their show a softer edge.
There were a few surprises in store. A 24ft high tower was revealed behind the catwalk doorway, lit with two Coemar Supercycs, loaded with a vertical ‘line’ of eight Strobeflowers plus a laser in the middle. This bombarded the catwalk with beams, silhouetting the models for the Top Man show.
For the Women’s show, the towers was again used, this time with eight mirror balls blasted with side light from Source Fours, creating a totally different ‘silhouette’ look. Gaskell operated the entire system using a WholeHog II and a Wing.
The catwalk show was followed by the Awards, and then guests exited to the conservatory area where themed Bedouin tents were decked out with food and refreshments. This left a two hour window for the main tent to be re-set for the evening’s entertainment. The back wall was moved to the rear of the stage which was transformed into a band performance space after some manic activity.
The two over-stage trusses were dropped in low to make it look asymmetric. Bandit supplied 14 PixelLine LED battens, half of which were rigged on floor stands and half hung off the lower truss, giving a top-to-bottom wall effect for the two bands – Goldfrapp and Soul Wax.
The gardens were illuminated with approximately 25 MBI floods plus numerous Source Fours and other lanterns, and the bars and the Bedouin tent area were highlighted with Source Fours.
Gaskell comments: “The project consumed two full trucks of lighting gear alone. Bandit Lites was absolutely amazing – I really like working with them as a company and on a personal level with all their crew. They have exactly the right attitude and balance.” He concludes: “That’s why they are so successful!”
1st September 2005
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