Claypaky supports Moonrise 2017 in Baltimore
- Details
Moonrise 2017, which grew out of the Starscape rave in Baltimore, marked its fourth year at the Pimlico location. It ran from noon to 11 pm on 12 1nd 13 August. David Hauss, of Denver-based Hauss Collective, served as production designer and production coordinator, designing the festival and handling production management for the fan-filled weekend. Light Action Productions in New Castle, Delaware was the lighting vendor.
Hauss tailored the lighting rigs to meet the needs of each of the four stages. The Stellar Stage exclusively hosted DJs in a giant structure custom designed by Hauss. He selected 56 Claypaky Mythos 2 for the stage placing eight each on the decks atop seven towers whose height varied from 40ft to low platforms. The towers also featured flame units and lasers. Custom plexiglass rain hoods “saved the day for the Mythos” when the weekend weather turned inclement, says Hauss.
A longtime Claypaky user, he chose Mythos 2 for the Stellar Stage for the “hybrid nature” of the fixture. “It’s the best of both worlds,” Hauss says. “I could use it as a beam light and as a profile. As a festival designer you want that flexibility to deal with the individual artists who might want either or both looks. And with only DJs playing on this stage I also wanted to make the experience as all-encompassing and overwhelming for the audience as possible from the design of the structure to the pyro and lighting.”
Hauss says the Mythos 2 delivered exactly what he expected. “Claypaky lights are solid fixtures that work consistently and hold their position. They can take the stress of an EDM festival, which is way harder on fixtures than traditional music festivals. The really fast tempos and aggressive sound pushed the fixtures for two almost 12-hour days.”
The Lunar Stage featured more traditional EDM bands, such as Pretty Lights Live, and had a more conventional theatrical stage design, says Hauss. He opted for 28 Claypaky Sharpys “scattered all over the stage, in the air and on the deck”. Hauss calls Sharpy “my go-to tool when I want to add beam fixtures to my design.”
The Solar Stage, which showcased DJs and rappers under a tent structure, included 14 Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K20s in its rig. “I’ve been using B-EYES since they came out,” Hauss reports. “They’re very versatile: an effects light, which you can run in shapes mode or in extended mode to create a ton of looks easily, and a wash light to simply wash the stage.”
The smallest stage, dubbed Celestial Garden, hosted both DJs and bands. Hauss chose eight silver Sharpys to add beams to the design and noted that the fixtures’ silver housings “looked great from their position downstage”.
Francesco Romagnoli, Claypaky area manager for North and Latin America, added, “Moonrise is a great festival and we are pleased that Mr. Hauss chose so many of our fixtures for it.”
(Jim Evans)
