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Robe In The City
The newly opened City Club in Roznov pod Radhostem, Czech Republic, is fully fitted out with a complete Robe Show Lighting moving light rig and is already creating a buzz of excitement in the area.
The 900-capacity venue is something totally new in Roznov. It’s part of the main City Casino complex and features an eye-catching industrial-chic interior design, stripped back, full of metal and brick surfaces and a dynamic music policy. These features - plus the spectacular lighting rig – have immediately made the City Club the place in which to be seen. So many guests turned up for the opening night that people had to be turned away.
Coincidentally, Roznov is also the home town of Robe Show Lighting. Despite the close proximity of the factory, this is the very first installation of Robe lighting products in the locality. The City Club’s Independent owner, local entrepreneur Pavel Zet, wanted to create something completely different. The aim is to be hip, trendy and also to appeal to an over 25 audience, with the intention that the club and adjacent casino might feed each other with clientele, as well as the City Club attracting its own regulars seeking a great night’s dancing. Live music and bands are also being showcased there, so Zet needed a lighting design and installation that would work in both club and stage contexts.
The club’s ceiling height is low, so they chose from Robe’s DJ and smallest moving head ranges, picking 16 DJ Scan 250 XTs, four Spot 250 XT moving heads and a Robe DMX 480 controller. The expedient size of all the fixtures is ideal for intimate environments like the City Club, and the Spot 250 XT is generally reckoned to be the brightest fixture of its class. The DMX 480 is a user-friendly controller that’s perfect for a rig of this size. It’s operated by the club’s regular technician as well as by some of the DJ’s who multitask as LJs.
The DJ Scans are lined up in the roof either side of two long walls along the main dancefloor, and the Spot 250 XTs are rigged in front of the raised stage area. They’re positioned so they can either hit the stage when needed or shoot their beams and effects down the full length of the room.
“Attracting a slightly older demographic is demanding,” Zet explains. “They are very discerning and now clearly expect high quality sound and lighting systems when they go out - as well as good music. Production values were therefore vitally important to make this venue work – and that’s why we went for Robe. Lighting is the most important element of all – it makes or breaks a good atmosphere in a club.”
He says that he’s been aware of Robe products for some time, and had also spoken to others about their reliability in fixed installations. “Having a local company as a supplier is an absolute bonus – there was no other brand that could be as cost effective and it is good to keep commerce within the community.”
Although he’s not expecting to see anyone from Robe’s service department in the near future, other advantages of having the factory so close included the ease of setting up demos. He says that generally the attention to detail he received was excellent.
The City Club’s lighting design is highly effective, and the chosen fixtures offer more than enough features and functionality to keep the pace and variety of the visuals going for a full night of moving, grooving and rocking entertainment. Clubbers and live music fans are now regularly flocking to the venue where the lightshow has become a major talking point.
19th February 2007
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