Rockstar 4000 were the producers of this popular production, while MTC (Mobile Telecommunications Company and NBC (Namibian Broadcasting Corporation), were the main sponsors.
The inspiration for the lighting design came from Jonathan Bandli from Bad Weather, who was commissioned by dB Audio Namibia. "We wanted to simplify the design and go back to basics," said Jonathan. "While we wanted to have something elegant and grand, the lighting had to be versatile to accommodate the variety of music genres that Namibia has to offer. This meant designing an array of different tools in my arsenal from beautiful simplistic spot looks to big areal moments and of course immense beams for those high impact songs. I also decided to run the Robin 1000 LEDBeams and Robin 600 LEDWashes in mode 5, to give me unlimited zone control which made for some great eye candy on camera."
Lighting, video and set were designed as one. "We really feel this process adds a lot of value to ensure the execution of a very coherent production," he explained. "Understanding when you should push forward and make lighting a feature and when to pull back and let another element shine is crucial to a dynamic show."
The rig incorporated 18 Robe BMFL, 12 Robe Robin 1000 LEDBeam, 24 Robe Robin 600 LEDWash, eight Robe Robin 300 LEDWash, 24 Robe Robin Pointe, 12 Robe Robin 100 LEDBeams, four Showline LS Nitro 510, six Robe ColourWash 700E AT, eight Robe Robin 600E Spots, 24 2k Fresnels, 12 8-Way Moles, 60 Par64 and Slim Pars for light boxes. Control was with a High End Systems Road Hog 4 with a Nano Hog 4 as a tracking backup during the show and as a session console during the programming. The outputted DMX was handled by a High End Systems DP8000 with an Acme 8-Way Art-net Node attached.
"I was really blown away by the brightness of the BMFLs, and especially the rich colours and how it maintained its intensity," commented Jonathan. " I think this was one of the first shows I was actually able to do something really usable with some deep reds and UV on the spots. It was great and the way it zooms down to a thick beam is something I particularly liked. I was also very impressed with the zoom of the Robin 100 LEDBeam, a great wash that can turn into a fantastic effect light in a second! It has some great tight beams from even just the outer zone. All in all I had fixtures which I look forward to using again soon."
Johnny Scholtz from DWR Distribution, lighting and equipment distributors in South Africa, attended the Nama Awards in support of their client dB Audio. "It was amazing that dB Audio pulled off this event on their own. They did exceptionally well."
(Jim Evans)
