GHSA has serviced the event since its inception in 2000. In that time, it's grown in stature and profile to become one of the most important dates on the Jazz calendar today, attracting a live audience of 60,000 plus across the two days.
Staged at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the event was co-ordinated for GHSA by international sales manager Philip Beardwood in the office, and on site by project manager Theo van As.
Says Beardwood, "Having worked on an event for many years and seeing it evolve has been a great experience and given us real insight into the event and how the production values have grown. A constant challenge has been to keep coming up with new ideas to keep it looking fresh and different each year."
GHSA installed a 10m wide by 14m deep stage for the 10,000 capacity Kippies Stage, the festival's main venue. The build also included assorted other structures like camera platforms, wheelchair access and risers. GHSA's sister company Havaseat supplied a 1500 VIP seating stand at the back of the hall.
The primary sound system was Turbosound for the bands, with an L-Acoustics V-Dosc system supplied for speech. Headliners included leading international and African artists like Ringo Mandlingozi, Jonathan Butler, Freshly Ground and the Stylistics.
The show was mixed by Johan Griesel using an Amek Recall 56 channel console, along with a six-channel Soundcraft E6, with a Yamaha PM5 for monitors, mixed by Revil Baselga. The Amek has Neve input stages which give a great warm sound for Jazz.
The lighting rig was a 12-leg Ground supported rig with six flown trusses. The spec contained 36 Martin Professional MAC 2K moving lights - a mix of Profiles and Washes, and eight Robe ColorWash 700E ATs, with a large generic rig of PARs, ACLs, ETC Source Fours and fresnels. The lighting picture was completed with effects like Atomic strobes and smoke, all controlled from a WholeHog iPC console, operated by Philip Chames.
The projection system incorporated a Stumpfl 6 x 4.5 metre screen upstage, fed by two rear projected Christie 8K machines, with a Folsom Image pro hard disk and a DVD player for sources.
(Jim Evans)
