All white on the night in Nassau
Bahamas - Sitting down to design the lighting rig for the Albany resort's White New Year's Eve Party, Paul Francis Aranha and his team repeated the same vow that they've been making every year since they began working on the annual event in 2011: find a way to make this party more visually exciting than the last. This year, the team upped the excitement level in emphatic fashion by calling on the output and intense colours of Nexus 4x4 panels and Rogue fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

"Albany Resort and Spectrum Light & Sound are always looking for new ways to wow guests at this party," said Aranha. "It's been that way from the beginning."

Described by Forbes as "the most exclusive resort in the Bahamas," this 600-acre island complex includes 5-star restaurants, $6,000-a-night poolside condo units, over 70 deep water slips for 300' yachts and a world-class golf course designed by local resident Ernie Els, who can sometimes be seen golfing there with a neighbour, Tiger Woods.

The 700 guests at the All White Party (so named because everyone is asked to dress in all white) were impressed as soon as they entered and were greeted by the output of 20 Nexus 4x4 panels.

Aranha arranged the Nexus fixtures around the dance floor on an outdoor truss rig, positioning them so they faced the island's clubhouse. "We used the Nexus panels to create atmosphere and a wow effect for the guests as soon as they entered," he said. "The panels gave life to the dance floor and helped create the baseline energy required to set the dance floor off, once guests finished eating. During the night they were used as blinders, strobes, and for the countdown to the New Year."

Contributing to the energy on the dance floor were eight Rogue RH1 Hybrids and 16 Rogue R2 Spots, positioned alongside one another to create a variety of looks. "The Rogues gave us versatility" said Aranha. "Our lighting designer could go from all spots to mixing beams and spots, reflecting different moods and keeping the dance floor dynamic."

In addition to the Nexus panels and Rogues, the White Party rig included a collection of 100 COLORado fixtures used to provide lavish colour washes, as well as two Amhaze haze machines and 12 Vesuvio water-based LED foggers for atmospherics. The lights were controlled with a grandMA2 board and linked with 5-pin DMX and Neutrik powerCON.

(Jim Evans)


Latest Issue. . .