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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
VALASSKE MEZIRICI, Czech Republic
— Robe gear may travel the world to light
events staged in distant lands, but in the case
of the 2010 Hrachovka Festival, the Robe fixtures
were used in the backyard of the Czech
factory where they were made.
The festival featured Robe moving lights
on the two main stages, supplied by locally
based lighting company Stage Plus and run
by Tomas Bierza. Robe also sponsored one of
the stages, making their Robin fixtures available
for use.
The lineup was an eclectic mix of Czech
bands, including 2010 Czech and Slovak Superstar
winner Martin Chodúr, Airfare, Plastic
People of the Universe, Žlutŷ Pes, Electric
Mann, PSH, Cocotte Minute and others, representing
a diversity of styles and genres —
rock, urban, electro, pop, punk and dance.
Lighting for both Ostravar and Robe
Stages was designed by Bierza, and operated
by him plus Dalibor Michenka from High Life
Touring and Martin Valovy.
The Ostravar Stage had six Robe ColorSpot
2500 and six ColorWash 2500E ATs on
its back truss and four ColorWash 2500E ATs
on the floor. On the Robe Stage were four
Robin 600 and four Robin 300 Spots on the
back truss, eight ColorWash 700E ATs on the
front and four ColorWash 700E ATs on the
floor.
The rig for the Robe stage was designed
about three weeks in advance of the event.
Robins were chosen for their durability in outdoor
environments, and their low weight and
smaller size meant that lighter duty trussing
could be used and less crew were required for
the build, saving on overall production costs.
With little preparation and pre-programming
time available and so many bands playing,
lighting on both stages was designed to
be operated “live” in improvised festival style.
The biggest challenge of the overall designs
was that the lighting was flexible and
diverse enough to give each artist an individual
look and lightshow, and Bierza said that
having all the Robe fixtures was “invaluable”
to this process.
He has been using Robe XT and AT Series
fixtures extensively on numerous shows
and installations for about eight years, but
this presented the first chance to use and see
the new Robin range in action. He was most
impressed with their extreme brightness and
large palette of effects.
Afterwards, he stated that his fixture
inventory will definitely be expanded to
include Robins, particularly the 600s. “The
weight-to-size-and-power ratio is very important
to me as I service many small-to-medium
sized events.”
P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S
Moving Lights Used Near Factory for Hrachovka Festival
The rig included Clay Paky Alpha Beam 1500s
The Robe-sponsored stage at the Hrachovka Festival
He also credited the color range, power
and dimming of the ColorSpot 2500s, and
the shows at Hrachovka were animated with
many of the ColorSpot 2500’s gobo effects as
well.
This year marked a new chapter for the
festival, which was presented by Občanské
Sdružení Festival Hrachovka (a not-for-profit
association), managed by Bara Černa and Terezie
Diehlova, both students of the Faculty of
Multimedia Communication at Thomas Bata
Univerzity in Zlín.
The one-day event drew about 2,000
people from the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Hungary and Poland.
Luzmila Supports Eros Ramazotti Concert in Mexico
GUADALAJARA, Mexico —
Mexican rental company Luzmila
lit Italian singer-songwriter Eros
Ramazotti’s concert at the Teatro
Telmex recently with 30 Clay
Paky Alpha Beam 1500 fixtures.
The concert supported the artist’s
latest album, Ali e Radici
(Wings and Roots). The sold-out
crowd exceeded 11,000.
“When the lighting design
team from Eros Ramazotti heard
that Luzmila had the first Alpha
Beam 1500s in Mexico, they
called us right away,” said Luzmila
lighting technician Federico
Figueroa. “The fixtures did a phenomenal
job. The beams are intensely bright
and very fast. The effects were spectacular,
and Mr. Ramazotti and his team were very
pleased.”
The Alpha Beam 1500 fixtures were
placed in rows of five fixtures each on six
movable truss sections positioned over the
stage. The truss sections were raised, lowered
and rotated during the performance to
alternate between straight lines and crossing
angles at varying heights, allowing for a wide
range of looks.
Lighting control came from a Martin
Maxxyz. The stage was completed with a
large seven-meter-wide-by-four-meter-tall
high-resolution LED screen showing images
of Ramazotti during the performances.
14 PLSN NOVEMBER 2010