Robe Returns to The Future at PLASA 2019
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The show #ReturnToTheFuture was created to highlight Robe’s newest technologies in the context for which they were designed.
With an original DeLorean MMC12 as the set centrepiece, six dancers – and around 200 Robe lights - including Esprites, Tetras, T1s, SilverScans, MegaPointes, Spiiders, Tarrantulas and LEDBeam 150s – rigged in the roof and all around the sides of the booth, plus stunning special effects and a pool of water containing Robe IP rated iPointes - the eight-minute 428-cue (that’s one every 1.12 seconds) show was performed to a special soundtrack and kept all the visual surprises flowing.
It drew massive crowds to the Robe booth which was packed throughout the three days of the show.
“We loved being back in London and were very proud to present the show in a city that’s renowned for world-class entertainment, and to touch base with so many industry friends and contacts,” stated Robe CEO Josef Valchar, adding that they generally received a great response to the new products.
Winning a PLASA innovation award for the Esprite was the “icing on the cake” of a fantastic show, he continued. The judges’ comments on this new product were that it “advances technical practice by increasing the potential lifespan of LED fixtures, hopefully setting the model for other manufacturers to follow”.
In addition to the ESPRITE, this also included Tetra, a new moving LED batten incorporating the same high-quality optics and LED lightsources used in the Spiider and Tarrantula LED wash-beams.
In the ESPRITE, Robe has focussed on the future. It is the first fully replaceable LED engine luminaire of its kind, and a high-powered, eco-friendly, cost-effective replacement for ‘workhorse’ discharge fixtures which are the backbone of the lighting rental industry worldwide.
The Return to The Future show was produced by Robe’s creative team led by Nathan Wan and Andy Webb and choreographed by Jaye Marshall. The live show elements were production managed by Josh Williams, with the overall spectacular expo stand build coordinated by Tomas Kohout.
The ever-relevant concept of time travel was a huge hit with everyone at the show and car geeks salivated with the appearance of the fully working vehicle – one of only two in the UK. It was produced in the early 1980s featuring Giorgetto Giugiaro classic DMC design, complete with signature gull-wing doors, brushed stainless steel outer body panels, fibreglass body structure and steel backbone chassis, all revolutionary in the day.
“We wanted to hit a chord with the importance of the replaceable / transferable engine of the Esprite and to produce a show that was vibrant and fun as well as instantly – and universally – recognisable,” explained Nathan on how the thought process started and developed.
In Marvel-esque style, the heroes of the story were the Robe fixtures, which offered plenty of opportunity for imaginative and subtle brand reinforcement.
A two-level double-deck architecture was built into the overall stand plan to facilitate the show design requirement for three top tier windows in the ‘automotive laboratory’, where the backup dancers first appear behind gauze panels while the Marty McFly and Doc Brown characters are below puzzling over how to transfer the car engine to something modern, powerful and carbon-conscious.
Nathan and Jordan enjoyed the challenge of imagining and built the laboratory’s reactor prop including retro 1980s button / meter panel displays and the bubble tubes that emulated plutonium rods.
An ArKaos media server was used to map all the pixel fixtures – Tetras, Spiiders, Tarrantulas and LEDBeam 150s – and the show was programmed and run on an Avolites console. BPM SFX supplied flames and CO2 jets, with an eye-catching low fog curtain and The One hazers from MDG all contributing.
The next instalment of Robe’s Return to The Future series will be staged at LDI in Las Vegas in November.
(Jim Evans)
