He worked closely with The Art of Light, designers and specialists in the world of EDM lighting, who have been involved from Armin's very first live show. The results were a truly immersive visual and sonic experience as Armin unfolded his five-hour set - including an hour of warm-up from inside a giant inflatable ball. While absolutely centre stage, Armin was joined onstage by numerous guests including vocalists, musicians, dancers, acrobats and trampoline artists.
The stage, while clean and uncomplicated in appearance, featured an epic 'widescreen' set designed by Sander Reneman from 250K, with a large LED surface upstage, behind the DJ riser which was clad with another LED along the front of it. This brought an impressive cinematic feel to the environment, enhanced by amazing visuals produced by Eyesupply.
The 120 Robe LEDBeam 100s and 54 Pointes were among the main 'sculptural' fixtures of the show. The small and powerful LEDBeam 100s were arranged in two large 10x6 matrices marking the outside (left and right) wings of the stage and framing the edges of the performance space. They helped extend the energy of the performance out into the crowds, matched video cues in colour and feel and created big statement shapes and animations.
The LEDBeam 100s also provided a very practical source of light for two B stages positioned both left and right just in front of the PA wings, which featured solo performances on piano, drums, percussion and vocals.
The Pointes were rigged so they framed the main upstage LED screen, providing a bright and versatile light-border for the higher parts of the set. They remained inactive for the initial two hours of the show, then were introduced slowly and subtly, at first for scenic looks which were gradually ramped up for wilder and more striking effects as the musical action started building to the crescendo.
Lighting for this full version of the show at the Ziggo Dome was supplied by Purple Group, one of the Netherlands leading rental houses and a big investor in Robe.
The show was produced by Dennis de Bruin for Alda Eventt. The Intense tour manager was Danielle Stokman and the production manager Maarten Hoogland. The video operator was Carlo Ruijgers from Eyesupply.
(Jim Evans)
