This was the first time Zig Zag boss Neil Hunt has used a Diamond 4. "It was an ideal opportunity to put it properly though its paces and to get first hand feedback from my top programmers and operators," he comments. "We needed a desk with large capacity that was reliable, versatile and had Ethernet capability for the PixelDrive. The D4 was the solution - it has all the power and precision to do exactly what we needed."
The Godskitchen Arena rig was designed by Hunt and the D4 Vision was programmed and operated by Matt Holden-Jones, who ran lighting for most of the DJ sets, and Paddy Sollitt, who ran the desk for the Happy Mondays' headline slot on the Friday night.
The D4 Vision is the most powerful in Avolites' console range. For the Godskitchen Arena, all 8 DMX lines were fully loaded and it was controlling 100 Robe moving lights - 76 ColorSpot 1200E ATs and 24 ColorWash 1200s - plus 88 PAR Cans, 12 Martin Atomic strobes, 10 Molefeys, 20 JTE PixelLine 1044s, 14 of the new PixeLine 110s, two PixelDrive computers running the PixelLines and assorted hazers.
All this was rigged onto a 70-point trussing superstructure which included circles and diamond shapes, and was installed into the roof of the massive tent. Rigging was by Harry Box of Concert Lights. They also used three strings of Avolites' eDMX wireless data system to reach the three most inaccessible sets of lighting fixtures in the tent.
Such has been the success of the Global Gathering event at Long Marston Airfield - which is also promoted by Godskitchen - that this year the organizers added an extra day, stepping up to a 2 day event for the first time, which also sold out well in advance.
(Jim Evans)
