Robert Juliat USA's booth displayed popular, well-established brands including its LED profile ranges and a number of its powerful followspots. Simultaneously, newly-appointed US distributor, ACT Lighting, marked its first showing of Robert Juliat products by introducing Robert Juliat's latest followspots, the new Merlin and Roxie.
LDI 2014 witnessed the first viewing on US soil of Robert Juliat's new touring followspot, Merlin. Merlin is the culmination of an ambitious project to produce a powerful, rugged followspot for the touring market.
"America is the home of the megatour, with stadium rock, mega churches and large sporting events an essential part of its culture," says Robert Juliat CEO, François Juliat. "Merlin is the rugged beast these arenas have been waiting for and cannot wait to do what it was created for and get on the road."
With an output that belies its 2500W HMI lamp and a massive 3°-12° beam range, Merlin covers both long and medium throw ranges in one unit. Merlin delivers a performance that outshines the ever-increasing power of LED lighting and videowall backlighting, while newly designed bodywork ensures Merlin is easy to install and maintain, tough enough for the road and supremely tourable.
The reaction from visitors proved Merlin delivered the same impact at LDI as it did at its unveiling at PLASA London last month - that of universal excitement and approval from operators and hire companies alike.
"The Merlin represents a new standard in touring followspots," says ACT Lighting vice president of sales, Brian Dowd. "The rugged build quality, ergonomic design and superior optics puts it in a class of its own. The Merlin is designed to cut through the challenges of rock n roll touring."
Another surprise was in store for visitors who were treated to the debut appearance of Roxie, the first LED followspot from Robert Juliat.
Of similar dimensions and output to the RJ Buxie, Roxie has been developed for the schools and small venue market. "America has one of the largest school markets in the world making LDI the ideal show to reveal the latest development in our followspot portfolio," says Robert Juliat sales director, Claus Spreyer. "We are delighted with the reception Roxie experienced which confirms our position as leading lights in providing our customers with the products they want."
"I was impressed with the light output, features and performance of the new Roxie LED follow-spotlight from Robert Juliat," states Marty Lazerus, president of Chicago Spotlight, when he tried out Roxie on the ACT Lighting stand. "I think this is one of the first truly practical applications of this emerging light source in a followspot. It is great to have this kind of performance coupled with the usual unsurpassed Robert Juliat quality."
"LDI not only gave Robert Juliat the opportunity for double exposure of its products but also successfully cemented our new relationship with ACT Lighting," continues Claus Spreyer. "ACT Lighting is ideally placed to develop Robert Juliat's presence in the American touring market while also having a broad reach and understanding of the US schools market. We really are being supported from the largest to the smallest venues around."
(Jim Evans)
