Robe Loves the 90s in Spain
- Details
Lighting and show designer Eduardo Valverde from Madrid-based creative specialist Pixelmap Studios was this year’s creative director, and his brief included imagineering the stage layout, set architecture including LED screens and the lighting.
Prominent on his lighting plot were around 150 Robe moving lights including Pointes, MegaPointes, LEDBeam 150s and LEDWash 800s, complete with three RoboSpot systems run with BMFL Spots, all supplied by rental company Fluge.
Due to the different venues, the rig design varied slightly for all of the shows, but the Robes were right at the heart of the aesthetics for each of the one-day hi-energy, all-action concerts featuring a dynamic multi-artist line-up with Dr Alban, La Bouche, Sonique and many more classic sounds from the era.
This year the stage design took on a new dimension as Eduardo and his team created a near 360º experience with a 45m wide stage and a 30m runway thrusting out from the front that sliced the near-stage audience into two, with a circular B-stage at the end.
Flying above this B-Stage was a 9m diameter ‘disco ball’ made up of curved trussing, rigged with lights and a think ring of LED. For some acts, the DJ booth was located on the B-stage, putting the performers right in the middle of the fans, which really boosted the show energy and excitement levels.
This 360° concept - in which the production wrapped around 270° of the stage - leaving room only for a small amount of backstage and technical space at the back, was the starting point for the lighting as it meant there were multiple viewing and camera angles which needed to be covered with lights.
Lighting was divided into three zones. The first one was above the main stage and included an overall mothergrid in the roof, with sub-hung circular trusses providing additional lighting positions. This zone also included the lozenge shaped video screens.
The second zone covered the runway. Trusses were flown above to provide lighting positions to cover the catwalk itself and the audience areas both sides of it.
The third lighting area was around the DJ booth on the B-stage and the trussing ball that proudly mimicked the legendary disco ball of the 1990s, which itself was rigged with 48 Robe LEDBeam 150s to create dynamic beam effects.
In addition to the Robes there were around 50 x LED floods on the rig plus 400 or so LED battens.
Joining Edu on his FOH crew were lighting programmer and operator Juan Manuel Lázaro and project manager Carlos Fernández. The lighting crew chief was Bochi Piaggio, the production’s own video artist team - producing their bespoke content - comprised David Inlines, Sergio Puig and Carlos F.
All of Fluge’s Robe stock has been supplied by San Sebastian-based Spanish distributor EES.
(Jim Evans)
