MegaPointes for Martin Garrix in Amsterdam
- Details
The RAI design was created by Gabe based on a new live show concept that was launched at the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco in May. The base model - that travels everywhere - has a large video ‘plus’ sign flanked each side by a matrix of 90 x Robe Spikies.
For the RAI shows, the ‘plus’ was still there in the centre, with everything else around it seriously scaled up.
A 10m high structural trussing design repeated the shape of the central ‘plus’ to each side, giving it a 45-degree twist in the meantime which introduced a natural flourish of asymmetry and extended the stage width to 42m. Gabe worked with designer Bart Stravar on this element of the production which was constructed from 30 cm trussing and a selection of corner blocks.
Multiply was one of Martin’s 2017 Ibiza summer residencies, so when the RAI show design started evolving, Bart and Gabe played with the idea of multiplying logos.
The goal was to dramatically reimagine the touring rig and maintain the industrial aesthetic, which was accomplished by adding a 40m wide by 10m high 16mm LED wall behind the truss structure, which worked brilliantly for outlining and silhouetting the trussing architecture.
The 50 x MegaPointes were rigged on three curved trusses that complimented the architecture of the trussing structure and lined the upstage video wall. Then Gabe continued the Spikie matrix, extending it across all the structure’s metal work elements, which consumed 164 Spikies.
He programmed the 164 Spikies with 136 ‘dummy’ fixtures, so the grandMA2 could produce perfect maths to make the dynamic liquid Spikie effects pulse, bounce and ripple across and around the structure.
Above the audience, 60 x Robe Pointes were deployed which worked smoothly with both the MegaPointes and the Spikies. Gabe has been using Pointes regularly since the 2016 Martin Garrix Tour.
He programmed the lighting with the help of Fabian Fisniku, and operated the RAI shows himself using a grandMA2 full size console. Other lights on the rig included 73 x strobes, 100 x truss toners and 154 x 1-lite Moles. Another grandMA2 full size was operated by Aubrey Wright running the flames and CO2 effects.
The pyro design and operation is executed by Bert Kelchtermans who is also the tour’s production manager and the SFO operator and tour manager is Aubrey Wright. Audio is mixed by Stephan Themps.
The Amsterdam show was promoted by E&A Events, and the Martin Garrix touring production crew including Amanda Barker liaised closely with a local production team managed and coordinated by Iko Claassens and Ronnie Santegoeds.
(Jim Evans)
