The bands were pop rockers Mandrage from Pilzen (LD Tomas Karban); Divokej Bill a well-established folk-rock band from Uvaly near Prague (LD Matej Mantlik) and loud-and-proud thrash metal outfit SKWOR (LD Martin Samecky).
Three very distinct bands embracing three different genres of music, all enthusiastically received around the country at average 1000 capacity venues over two to three months - and three innovative Czech LDs all loving their Robe fixtures!
The Mandrage tour used 14 x Robe ROBIN Pointes, five MMX Spots and eight ROBIN LEDWash 600s; Divokej Bill had eight ROBIN 600E Beams on their rig, while the SKWOR show made great impact with four Pointes and four 600E Beams.
As you'd expect, all three had completely different looks and stylistic approaches when it came to lighting.
For Mandrage, Karban's lighting aesthetic was slick, clean and streamlined like a well-oiled machine; the concept for Divokej Bill was that lighting took a lead from the slightly punkish 'dirty' stage design and helped engulf the crowds in a big party onstage ... which also had to be achieved on an expedient budget; while for Skwor, the lights needed to be raw, in-the-face and abrasive to match the energy of the music and bare set design.
Tomas Karban made the most of the Pointe's multi-functionality for Mandrage. His design required lots of detailed narrow beam effects and that's why he specified Pointes. The lights were rigged on six vertical trussing towers. In front of these were four moving LED screens, so when these were in the down position the lights shone through the semi-transparent LED to produce a completely alternative effect.
The MMX Spots were also used for front key lighting and the LEDWash 600s for shooting beams across the stage from the sides.
Karban likes the speed of the Pointes and huge amount of effects possible, especially using the prism. "The power is great," he declares. "The quality is excellent and I like Robe's attitude and foresight when it comes to future product development."
Matej Mantlik made the most of the intensity of the 600E Beams for Divokej Bill. These fixtures were selected because the show design also featured columns of LED upstage, so they needed some serious brightness. Four of the 600E Beams were on the back truss and the other four on the floor for contrast. "I simply love the sheer power of those beams," he states.
For SKWOR, Martin Samecky added plenty of lighting chaos to the mix matching the band's vigour, loudness and visual elements like the stage set and backdrop. The lights were positioned on different height towers which could be varied to suit the venues. The four Pointes were on top of the towers and the 600E Beams on the floor.
"The sheer variety of effects you can produce with the Pointe is amazing," he affirms. "Your imagination can really go wild, you can have new effects and looks constantly and never bore the audience - or yourself!! This is essential with a fast moving all-action noisy band like SKWOR".
All three LDs used Avolites' consoles for control, and all three tours were a great success and further evidence that the Czech live music scene of the moment is buzzing with talent and interest.
TD Promo is one of the Czech Republic's busiest and most successful rental companies and a provider of complete technical solutions - lighting, audio, bode and staging. They are also very proud to have Robe's market leading Czech lighting fixtures as a major part of their rental stock.
(Claire Beeson)
