It's the sixth year that HSL has supplied technical production to the UK's best-known dance event. They brought ML Executives onboard as their audio partners to deal with all-things sonic, and all departments worked closely with event production manager Lee Charteris.
HSL's on site co-ordinator was Ian Stevens, He collaborated with project manager Mike Oates who oversaw all the paperwork, advance logistics and prep.
Two dedicated HSL crew chiefs - Dave Jolly and Jonny Harper were appointed, and they spent a whole week in the warehouse ahead of the get-in to ensure that the six trucks worth of lighting arrived on site fully prepped, tested and marked up for efficient deployment around the arenas.
"The Creamfields operation ran the smoothest yet for us this year" confirms Oates, "And that was due to the rigourous prep and fantastic teamwork by all crew on site."
The main stage lighting was looked after for HSL by Steven Abbiss. This outdoor stage was the site's central hub, and featured incendiary performances from both Groove Armada and The Chemical Brothers.
HSL matched as many elements of both band's lighting schemes as possible, and Groove Armada also contracted HSL separately to provide all their specials, including over 120 Element Labs VersaTUBE LED fixtures, built into six portable columns.
The main rig included 30 Robe ColorWash 1200E AT and 24 Robe ColorSpot 1200E AT moving light fixtures, 24 Martin Atomic strobes and colour scrollers, 14 linear 4-lites and 10 8-lites with scrollers, all arranged across a standard four truss festival design - of which HSL has had plenty of experience this action-packed summer.
Groove Armada's LD Jonny Gaskell used the house WholeHog II and Wing lighting console, while Chemical Brothers' show director Ricardo Lorenzini brought in their own GrandMA console (their LD is Tom Lesh) on which he ran all lighting and visuals.
(Jim Evans)
