This year's UMF was the first two-weekend, six-day event in festival history and the most successful to date drawing over 330,000 electronic dance music fans. Over 200 DJs and electronic musicians and emerging artists performed each weekend.
UMF also scored another first with the public debut of the Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330 in the US. Fifty Sharpy Wash fixtures were featured in the innovative Cox Mega Structure, which was purpose-built for the high-energy festival to showcase DJs and artists on stage and shelter legions of dancing fans. Stephen Lieberman of SJ Lighting designed the Mega Structure with lighting and build by AG Light and Sound.
The Sharpy Wash fixtures joined a complement of Clay Paky Sharpys, Alpha Spot HPE 1500s and Alpha Beam 1500s mounted in the Mega Structure's lighting system. The truss pods were controlled by 54 CyberHoist motors; lighting was controlled on a grandMA2 full-size console.
"Stephen creates a truly immersive environment not found anyplace else in a live music festival. Clay Paky's drive to create high output fixtures in a compact form lends itself to such an environment. The truss pods containing the Sharpy Wash moved to within 10' of the audience creating a highly dynamic effect. It was a perfect match for the Sharpy Wash," comments A.C.T Lighting's VP of sales, Brian Dowd.
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky area manager for North and Latin America, adds, "What a great premiere of our new wash fixtures! The festival was very impressive and the lighting team did an outstanding job in designing this ambitious show."
(Jim Evans)
