Proteus rig for Germany’s Nature One
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“Last year, I discovered how easy and cool it was to have an IP65 fixture with the Proteus Hybrid,” the designer states. “This year, I was sure I wanted to use as many IP65 fixtures as possible. Ninety percent of this year’s fixtures were IP65 rated and all the moving lights were Elation Proteus series.” Populating Gerdon’s newly designed overhead audience and stage rig were Proteus Hybrid moving heads, new Proteus Rayzor 760 LED moving heads, and new 50,000-lumen Proteus Maximus LED moving heads.
Nature One celebrated its 25th anniversary in early August when tens of thousands of EDM fans converged on the former missile base of Pydna in central Germany. The Open Air Floor, which the festival promotes as the largest open-air club in the world, attracted over 30,000 guests at peak periods. Seeking to mirror that club setting where lights hang over the dancefloor, Gerdon created a large, ground-supported architectural truss structure that spanned the crowd. “If you go to a big club in a place like Ibiza,” he said, “you always have the lighting rig above the people. This year, we went back to basics a bit with a huge, cubic truss design and lighting rig above the people that we filled with a lot of Proteus.”
To feature top artists like Paul van Dyk and Eric Prydz, a large stage was also a key requirement. Gerdon continued the cubic design on stage with vertical columns of stacked metal pyramids, or “shields”, covered with LED video and topped with a lighting fixture. “The metal shields are new this year. They are a foundation to work from and we will use them again in next year’s design to build the stage look.”
Columns of LED video screens added to the visual landscape with a large backdrop LED screen used to feature the artists. The metal shields were custom-produced by Schoko Pro, who handled lighting and sound supply for the festival.
Gerdon created an event look that immersed the crowd in brazen beams while supporting the on-stage talent with colour and mid-air lighting excitement. With nothing to protect either the audience or stage rigs from the rain, Gerdon turned to an all IP65 moving head rig.
“From a design point of view, you don’t have the limitations that the rain covers give you like struggling with lighting through plastic, reflections, shadows, etc. And, as we all know, a rain cover does not work 100%. There is still risk of water damage. From a budget point of view, you don’t need the rain cover or the logistics and manpower to install it so you save a lot of money. Even if the IP65 fixtures cost a bit more, in the end it is cheaper than using a non-IP65 fixture with a rain cover.”
With a 44-meter wide by 18m high stage to work with, not to mention the crowd itself, there was a lot of real estate to light. The Proteus Hybrid served as the main workhorse of the rig with 98 located in the rig above the crowd and another 48 mounted on the upper edge of each metal shield on stage. Additionally, a line of 32 compact Proteus Rayzor 760 LED wash luminaires with SparkLED technology lined the downstage edge.
Gerdon deployed22 Proteus Maximus units for Nature One and used them to light the metal shield pyramids from positions on stage and in PA towers. “They were the coolest, most badass fixture in the rig!” he said of the all-purpose power luminaire.
(Jim Evans)
