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HSL Supplies Gatecrasher 2008
HSL supplied lighting equipment - including 170 Robe moving lights - and 10 crew - to the main stage, three major arenas and two smaller outdoor stages at the 2008 Gatecrasher Summer Sound System, held in Buckinghamshire.
Braving the inclement weather, HSL's team, project managed by Mike Oates worked closely with the event's production manager/production lighting designer Simon Barrington and event manager/licensee Russell Pate. It was the first year that HSL has supplied the event, which kick-starts the summer dance festival season.
The Main Stage featured Saturday headliners The Prodigy (LD Jonny Gaskell) and Chemical Brothers (LD Tom Lesh/lighting director Ricardo Lorenzini), who would have played the Sunday, however this was pulled late on, due to the weather.
HSL catered for both Prodigy and Chemical Brothers' designs, providing 16 Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs, 30 ColorWash 1200E ATs and 12 ColorWash 250E ATs, JTE PixelLines and PixelPARs, ChromaQ colour scrollers, Molefeys, 18 Martin Professional Atomic strobes with scrollers, several smoke and haze machines, plus a Litec trussing system, Lodestar motors, control and all necessary rigging. Jonny Gaskell also brought in a range of specials for the Prodigy's set. The lighting console was a WholeHog II and a Wing, and this was overseen by Steven Abbiss.
Gatecrasher Arena was a 40 metre wide by 60 metre long tent, with a lighting design based around an 8 metre diameter circle hung in the centre behind the DJ, with a rear projection screen as infill and a series of scaff structures positioned around the space that were built by Event Staging.
Onto these HSL rigged their lights, which included 32 Robe ColorWash 700E ATs and 40 ColorSpot 700E ATs, 30 i-Pix Satellites, ETC Source Four profiles, Molefeys, PAR cans, 16 Atomic strobes, 12 Studio Due City Colors for wash lighting and assorted fog and haze machines. This was controlled by a grandMA lighting console networked to a grandMA Lite operated by Simon Harbrow. Performers included DJ's Paul Oakenfold, Dave Pearce, Paul Van Dyke and live act Chicane.
For the Drum & Bass Arena/Metropolis Jake Jevons was the lighting operator, using a Pearl Expert console to control Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs and High End Cyberlight moving lights, ETC Source Fours, Atomic strobes, PARs, blinders and smoke. This was all rigged onto a truss based tower system featuring three 12 x 8ft video screens (supplied by PSL) in between the towers, used for rear projection. Several high profile live bands played sets including Dizzee Rascal, and Pendulum (LD Andy Hurst) who re-located their full show into here when the main stage was washed out on Sunday.
Electric Stew/Zane Lowe Presents Home Taping: techno-tastic lighting was again based around assorted scaffolding structures, and programmed and looked after by Nathan Wan, running an Avolites Diamond 4 console. Lighting kit included 14 Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs and 16 ColorWash 700E ATs, ETC Source Fours, Molefeys, PARs and Atomic strobes. Live acts appearing onstage included Digitalism, Simian Mobile Disco, Soul Wax and many others, some of whom augmented the ‘house' rig with their own specials.
Apart from the weather, the event was not without other incidents for HSL! Crew chief Tim Oliver dislocated his knee an hour into the get-in, leaving HSL a crew person down, "Everyone really rose to the occasion to cover for this and help each other out around the different areas in a massive team effort," says Mike Oates, adding "Simon and Russell were - as always - excellent to work with and ensured that we had all the help and support we needed to deal with everything."
HSL's Ryan Hopkins co-ordinated all the equipment being supplied to the smaller stages and tents, including the many unexpected last minute requests! Rory McKay took care of the onstage requirements of all those playing the main stage.
HSL also had to dry out 12 Robe ColorSpot 1200s that got drenched on the main stage on Sunday morning. Having had considerable experience with this after last year's washout summer, Oates took the job in hand. The lights were re-hung, struck up first time and would have been ready-to-rock had the main stage run on the Sunday night. "A great testament to their durability," he concludes.
photo by Jonny Gaskell, Renegade Lighting Design
25th June 2008
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