GLP’s Hybrids out in force on Mayday 2018
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For LD Thomas Gerdon, who has provided production design for five of the last seven events, the only important aspect was that a radical change, relocating the stage from the end of the hall to the long side of the rectangular room, gave him a massive 24m wide performance area to light.
This he accomplished with well over 200 fixtures from GLP - predominantly GT-1 and JDC1 hybrids - but also around 36 of the powerful impression X4 XL. This huge inventory was provided or sourced by Wiesbaden-based schoko pro.
This year Gerdon lit not only the main Arena stage but also the second Empire stage for promoters, I-Motion GmbH - commending their CEO Oliver Vordemvenne for his vision in endorsing the new stage position in his quest to keep the event fresh. “It gave us a totally new perspective and instead of placing lights over the audience, I could have them engage more closely with the lighting on stage.”
The designer relied heavily on the GLP catalogue to populate the giant 40m rig, both for the economy of being able to use versatile hybrid fixtures as well as performance reliability over such an arduous duty cycle.
“It was clear I would be using a lot of GLP equipment from the outset,” he says. “It is important to be cost efficient, so a hybrid fixture is very attractive. The GT-1 is a genuine hybrid with low weight, and having no base is a real plus.”
To the roster of 116 x GT-1 hybrids deployed Gerdon added almost 100 x JDC1 strobes.
Finally, the X4 XL heads were used to light the large red beams in the roof structure. “I wanted to underline the specific architecture of the venue and integrate it into the lighting design. We lit each beam individually and it achieved exactly what I wanted to achieve.”
(Jim Evans)
