Celebrating its 150th year anniversary, expectations for The First and Third Trinity Boat Club May Ball were high, with attendees not being left disappointed. Hawthorn provided lighting, sound, staging, rigging and power distribution for the all-night event which saw revellers partying until dawn.
A big change for the Trinity Ball this year involved moving the main stage onto the South Paddock and putting it into a 'Big Top' structure. This gave the Hawthorn team an interesting space to light and lent itself to a complex design. A multi-level ground support truss rig was used to work within the height restrictions posed by the structure. With headline acts Nothing but Thieves and Sigma featuring on the main stage, an impressive lighting rig was required, comprising of 30 moving-head intelligent fixtures which included Clay Paky Alpha Wash 700 and Alpha Spot HPE lights as well as Clay Paky Sharpys.
Audio in the big top consisted of a d&b V8/12 concert system alongside a 48 channel high-specification desk, the Yamaha CL5 with a Digico SD8 for monitors.
For those looking for other entertainment, Nevile's Court played host to a jazz marquee whilst Brewhouse Lawn was transformed into a dance club venue. Using a moving light rig and many different effects including strobes, UV and beam/colour chasing, Hawthorn was able to transform the space and create a full-on club atmosphere. Audio comprised of a full dance-club style sound system with audio stacks located at the 4 corners of the dance floor to give a concentrated high-level audio experience.
St. John's is the largest of the Cambridge Balls. This year revellers were treated to a Hollywood themed bash, with the beautifully lit courtyards housing temporary venues styled to represent film genres such as Bollywood, Film Noir, Western and Action-Adventure. A host of catering and bar outlets ensured everyone was fed and watered whilst they enjoyed the impressive entertainment line-up, including main stage headline acts Coast and Basement Jaxx.
The main feature again this year was a stunning projection on to St. John's Chapel tower with Hawthorn using some of the latest kit, including their Avolites Ai S8 media servers together with six Christie HD20K projectors. With a focus on 3D elements and forcing the perspective to make areas of the building to appear to protrude, all of the adventure themed content was created in-house by Hawthorn experts using Adobe After Effects and CINEMA 4D. The lighting rig for the sci-fi themed main stage in New Court used Hawthorn's new to stock Mac Aura XB's and Chauvet Nexus panels. Employing the expertise of specialists Laser Graffix to supply 36 individual laser heads, 3 of which were 12w RGBW heads, Hawthorn created an impressive laser light show that captivated the crowds.
Twenty-two Clay Paky Sharpy, Sharpy Wash and Alpha Beam 700's in external domes were used to provide stunning searchlight and visual effects on New Court as well as being part of the breath-taking fireworks display that took place on The Backs.
James Hunter, senior project manager for Hawthorn, stated, "The event was a huge success. The college looked amazing throughout thanks to the use of subtle, clever lighting effects to enhance the structure and building architecture. It's a great event to be involved with over the years and we love working with the student committee and college to deliver a night students will remember for years to come."
(Jim Evans)
