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Robe Dances the Night Away at Global Gathering 2008
Over 350 Robe moving lights were deployed site-wide at the 2008 Global Gathering dance festival weekender staged at Long Marsden Airfield near Stratford Upon Avon, in Warwickshire.
Show designers Electric Fly Productions asked award-winning lighting rental company HSL to supply all lighting fixtures, trussing, rigging & motors for the event's five arenas and three terraces. Electric Fly was contacted to design visuals and lighting for all these eight areas. Directly to promoters Angel Music, HSL supplied lighting kit and crew for the event's Main Stage.
It was the first time that HSL has worked on Global Gathering, and follows their work on other leading UK festivals like Creamfields, Bestival, Rockness, Gatecrasher, etc.
HSL project manager Mike Oates comments: "We worked extremely closely with the Electric Fly team led by Nick Jevons and Phil Winward, with site production manager Neil McDonald and event Manager David McCalmont. It was an extremely well planned and organised event with massive emphasis on high production values, everything ran smoothly and it was a real pleasure to work on."
It was also the first time that Electric Fly has worked on the festival, brought onboard after their groundbreaking visuals work on BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and 1XTRA events. They were commissioned as designers for their innovative approach to - and fusion of - lighting, digital lighting and video elements. They created a colourful, imaginative and coherent visual theme for Global Gathering. This linked all the different areas, and also allowed each individual space its own identity, look, feel and ambience, all based on the exploration of perspectives. Atmosphere is key to enhancing any form of dance music, and getting the right lighting and visuals make a big difference to the whole experience.
The organisers were particularly keen to work with a single lighting contractor with the ability to supply the diversity of lighting kit specified by the Electric Fly team. HSL also has the largest stock of Robe moving lights in the UK and were able to offer an excellent package.
The lighting design for the main stage was based around the specs of Friday and Saturday night headliners Kanye West (LD Jonathan Goldstein) and Mark Ronson (LD Matt Arthur). The stage was a 20 x 15 metre Star Events VerTech roof, below which HSL sub hung three cross stage trusses and stage left and right side trusses.
Moving lights were 56 Robe ColorWash 1200E ATs and 38 Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs rigged across all trusses. The Kanye West show also featured a substantial floor lighting package including 24 of the 56 ColorWash 1200E ATs. These had massive impact in a powerful performance with minimal front lighting, and huge drama and excitement created from silhouettes and shadows.
Goldstein ran the show on a grandMA console, while Matt Arthur used his desk of choice, a Jands Vista, which was also utilised by Roisin Murphy's LD Rob Sinclair. HSL's FOH ‘babysitter' was Steven Abbiss.
The Global/Godskitchen Arena was the largest tented area with a capacity of 12,000, and a very elegant in-the-round lighting design based on four concentric circles of trussing (20, 15, 10 and 6 metre diameters), staggered in height over the centrally located stage. Onto these were rigged a total of 40 Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 2500E ATs.
The moving lights were joined by 48 touring panels of Barco MiTrix screen, 16 bars of PARs and 18 strobes, all of which was operated by Nathan Wan using an Avolites Diamond 4 Elite console. Visuals were run by Jake Jevons using a Maxedia Compact media server. Revellers were rocked with stonking performances by Tiesto, Judge Jules, Armin Van Buren, Sasha and a host of leading international DJ's.
Around the Site Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 700E ATs were very brightly in action in the Polysexual/Cocoon arena, which featured three square arches clad in CK iColor Tiles. The onstage Robes blasted through the LED tiles and were also rigged on and over-audience truss in the tent. These were run by Toby Hogarth using an Avolites Pearl Expert.
In the Bedrock/Spectrum arena, the stage architecture was created by three concentric trussing semi-circles, rigged with 240 ChromaStrips for a total LED madness radiating effect. Onstage were Robe ColorSpot 575E ATs and out on the audience truss, Robe ColorWash 575E AT Zooms, all run by Mark Jones using an Avolites Diamond 4.
Nick Jevons himself ran lighting in the 10,000 capacity MySpace Electric/Global arena, witnessing live shows by Moby and Etienne De Crecy and high profile DJ sets from David Guetta, Erick Morillo, Laurent Garnier, etc.
Jevons has used Robe before. "They are reliable, and ideal fixtures for the harsh working environment of a dance festival where they're run continuously in high temperatures for hours on end with all features and functions optimised," he says.
In picture: Nick Jevons and Phil Winward of show designers Electric Fly Productions.
28th July 2008
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