For nearly 40 years, Avolites equipment has been found surviving the mud in each corner of the Worthy Farm takeover. This year the British manufacturer's consoles and media servers were not only used on the main stages such as the Pyramid, which was also powered by Avolites ART2000 dimmers, the Other, John Peel, West Holts and the Acoustic Stage but also Arcadia Spectacular and The Temple immersive dance environments, and afterhours areas such as the Unfairground art field.
Lighting designer Andrew Liddle, whose recent portfolio includes OMD, The Charlatans and La Roux, has been working with Avolites consoles for the past 35 years. Like Avolites, Liddle is a Glastonbury stalwart, hitting the festival for the 16th year running - this time with New Order. With a performance of 'atmospheric magic' that impressed NME magazine, the Manchester-born group took to the Other Stage in support of their latest album Music Complete.
Liddle augmented the Other Stage's house rig with 24 x Clay Paky Sharpys, four Martin Professional MAC Vipers and six ETC Source 4s, controlling the set-up with an Avolites Arena, supplied by technical event production house Hawthorn.
"I've been an Avolites user since 1996 and began using Titan in 2010," explains Liddle. "I've always liked how easy the desks are to use, plus the patching and palette creation they offer. They are also intuitive and fast to programme, which is ideal for the festival setting."
Performing on the John Peel stage was Fat Boy Slim, with long-time lighting designer Stephen Abbiss creating the ultimate rave atmosphere for the raucous crowd that packed the tent. Abbiss transferred the show file from his own powerful Titan Mobile, which he uses for some of his biggest shows, to a Tiger Touch II running Titan v10.
Also on the John Peel Stage, Tom Campbell of TC Lighting Design was operating a Tiger Touch II to control his design for John Grant; whose performance received a great review from The Guardian despite the American singer-songwriter suffering from flu.
Moving across to the West Holts Stage, lighting designer John Rogers chose a compact yet powerful Avolites Quartz console to control his design for soulful funk group Quantic All Stars.
Rogers' festival tour design for the Quantic All Stars is energetic and bold, utilising Robe Pointes' striking beam and prism looks to create a strong party vibe that runs through the set.
Another seasoned Avolites user, lighting designer Ken Coker operated a Sapphire Touch - the Acoustic Stage's house desk supplied by Rob Sangwell at Fineline Lighting - for Barclay James Harvest. Interestingly, the progressive rock group were the first band to take Avolites' original equipment on tour in the 1980s.
As ever there was plenty of Avolites action on the Arcadia Spectacular, who brought back their stunning Metamorphosis show to the festival for the second year running.
"Avolites has been one of Arcadia's most dedicated supporters, suppliers and partners during the company's evolution from small festival stages to international repute," says Tim Smith, Arcadia's technical production manager. "The relationship has been invaluable and they continue to supply cutting edge servers and lighting consoles alongside technical collaboration and unfailing dedication."
(Jim Evans)
