Given the building's historic significance and beauty, it was understandable that lighting designer Jean-Pierre Willson of Unfazed Productions wanted to accent the palatial structure's architectural flourishes when he created a design for Africa Day eKapa!, an annual Africa Day concert celebrating the anniversary of the Organization of African Unity. To help him achieve this goal, the LD relied on a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures supplied by Audiosure.
Willson used Rogue RH1 Hybrids, flown from the venue's vaulted ceiling at a height of 82' (25 meters), and Rogue R2 Washes, positioned on either side of the stage, to engage the audience and colorise the surroundings. "City Hall is a famous and historic (built in 1905) structure in Cape Town," he said. "The building is filled with beautiful architectural details. My brief from my client Steve Gordon and his team from Making Music Productions, which I wholeheartedly agreed with, was to let the beauty of the architectural space shine at this venue, and subtly light the performance area."
Arranging the Rogue fixtures in their lofty ceiling position and high on side truss helped Willson bring out the building's beauty when lighting it for Africa Day eKapa! "To me, lighting in a venue of this kind is all about layering and having the opportunity to light from the roof, stage, and upper balconies," he said. "When I do this, it allows me to layer light and create dynamic looks. Then once I accomplish this goal, I can play with fades, pulses and subtle colour changes to suit the music. Also because of the height of the ceiling, the movements of light from the stage through the audience to the roof were spectacular."
Willson used two Rogue RH1 Hybrids, eight Rogue R2 Washes and 18 Chauvet DJ SlimPARs in his rig, along with a collection of other spot and profile fixtures. "Audiosure showed me the Rogue RH1s before this project and I was very impressed with them, so we added them," he said. "The RH1s were used to give dramatic top light, movement throughout the room, and soft downlight onto the artist."
(Jim Evans)
