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Avolites in Control at Aste Nagusia 2007 Bilbao
Technical production for the event was supplied by Bilbao-based Audiomic, who took care of lighting, sound, video and rigging. The Diamond 4 was specified by lighting crew chief Urko Arruza who also produced the generic stage lighting design which was programmed and operated by Alex Ampudia.
The console was chosen for its power, flexibility, easy programming and because it was also likely to be familiar to guest lighting designers, explains Arruza, “Basically it is the perfect desk for a festival set up like this” he says.
The D4 arrived at Audiomic in April – their first one, although they have many other Avo consoles including Pearls and Sapphires. Before the festival, Ampudia used the D4 for a month long production of two operas in Santander, which gave him the opportunity to really discover its features and functionality by the time it came to the festival in Bilbao.
“It is an incredibly easy console to learn” he enthuses, adding that he specially likes the “instant access to all faders at any time, and the ability to customise your show layout, putting chases, scenes and cue stacks anywhere you want.”
The Layher stage (supplied by Bizkam) measured 18.5 wide by 15.5 metres deep and offered 5.5 metres of headroom.
This year, promoters Serrano, in conjunction with Bilbao City Council, decided to increase main stage production values dramatically, and offer a more comprehensive technical package than ever before in the festival’s 29 year history. It was the first year that Audiomic has won the contract to supply the equipment, and their brief was to increase the visual impact of the gig, and the operation was overseen for them by Juan Resines.
The lighting rig was designed to cater for 13 different bands including nine headliners, all from different musical genres and with different lighting requirements.
Arruza’s design involved seven trusses, all newly purchased from Milos. Three over-stage trusses featured curved ends, and three straight ones were hung at different trim heights at the back to add dynamics to the upstage lighting positions, plus a conventional front truss.
The moving lights were 22 Vari*Light 3000 Spots and 12 80 Volt V*L 500 Wash fixtures, positioned on each of the three curved trusses and on the floor.
Fourteen JTE PixelLine 1044s and 12 2-lites were also rigged to the curved trusses at varying heights, along with two Martin Atomic strobes, plus another two Atomics on the floor,
Also on the floor at the front were four Clay Paky CPColor400 colour-changing effects to provide some low level side lighting.
The front truss featured six bars of six for the front wash and 12 Lekos for specials and key lighting, along with four 8-Lites for audience illumination and four 4-lites per side on either of the PA wings, also pointing into the audience.
All of this was controlled by the Diamond 4.
Dimming was Avolites ART 2000, and power was distributed by one of Audiomic’s new PDs, supplied by EES who are also the Avolites Spanish distributor. Audiomic also supplied two Robert Juliat Corrigan 1200W follow spots.
Alex Ampudia operated lighting for about half of the headline acts, while others brought their own LDs which Ampudia ‘babysat’. He created a set of basic ‘building block’ palettes on the D4, and then layered each band’s individual shows on top of those, saving the different shows to the D4’s hard drive to be recalled as their slots came up through the week. “It’s a very efficient desk to programme and work on,” he says.
Arruza and Ampudia were joined on the lighting crew by Koldo Belloso (dimmers) and Jon Loiola (lighting technician).
Another four Audiomic crew looked after the EAW KF760 sound system. FOH engineer was Ignacio Gutierrez, working with Jimmy Martin on monitors, joined by stage assistants Endika Lopez and Lon Fernandez. Audiomic also took care of the video screens and projection, with cameras and PPU supplied by local TV station, Canal Bizkaia.
Music is key to the Aste Nagusia celebrations, and the festival features free performances of all kinds on stages and in squares and churches throughout the city of Bilbao across the nine-day period.
Avo consoles were also in action on many other stages around the festival, including the Guggenheim Stage where LD Gines Caballero was one of many to use a Pearl 2004 to control lights for a rocking set by his band, La Union.
12th September 2007
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