Ian Jones is head of technical services at Anvil Arts says: "When we made the decision to purchase Clay Paky and MA Lighting products, our primary aim was to raise the bar for our house production lighting and take the first steps toward future proofing the rig for the next ten years. We wanted to provide lighting that gave us maximum flexibility, value for money and enhances the experience of our visitors - quite a tall order with the diversity of our performance programme."
Their first point of contact was Paul Roughton, business development manager at Stage Electrics. "Ian asked us to demonstrate both Clay Paky and MA Lighting options, as a dealer for both brands we were more than happy to pull this together. Working together with Ambersphere Solutions who are the exclusive distributors for Clay Paky and MA Lighting in the UK we were able to facilitate this. Matt Cowles, Technical Sales and Phil Norfolk, Sales Director were more than happy to loan Ian some Alpha Spot 300 HPEs and Alpha Spot 700 HPEs as well as a grandMA2 ultra-light console to try out on a show in the venue."
Matt Cowles explains the process: "Philip and I spent the day with them before the show, took them through the desk and set them up ready for the show. Their chief LX, Chris Poynter had used the desk before but for the rest of guys it was an important part of our support package. Anyone who buys a console from us is entitled to free training. Once the sale was completed through Stage Electrics, there was a two day comprehensive course on site training the guys on the console. We continue to offer free training after that initial session and they have since sent a couple of new employees to our London base for the same two day training course. One of the great features about the grandMA2 consoles is their flexibility - most of the console is completely customizable - not only useful for a venue that has such a range of performance styles but for each of the operators."
Alongside the new console, The Anvil has also upgraded its lighting rig after comparing the Alpha Spot 300 HPEs and Alpha Spot 700 HPEs during that first trial session.
Jones concludes: "Both energy and value wise it was a clear cut decision to purchase the grandMA2 ultra-light console and the Alpha Spot 300 HPEs along with A.leda Wash K10 units. The whole package has allowed us to provide a more creative and flexible solution at a very realistic price."
(Jim Evans)
