Vasco Rossi on the move with Kinesys
- Details
Lighting designer Giovanni Pinna, set designer Claudio Santucci of Gioforma, d3 operator Marco Piva and other key members of Vasco’s creative team including live camera director Peppe Romano were instrumental in the implementation of the Kinesys system to maximise the dynamic movement they wanted as part of the show aesthetic.
The hardware and control was supplied by PRG Belgium and operated on the road by Jimmy Johnson a UK based rigger / automation specialist.
The system comprised 16 x half tonne Kinesys ApexHOISTS complete with ApexDRIVES which were used to fly move four ‘satellite’ video screens / lighting pods immediately above the stage. These tracked upstage / downstage as well as flying up and down!
“Apex was selected for this task so we have the latest Kinesys technology with all the required safety features to fly above the performers,” confirms Jimmy. He mentioned that the 30-metres-per-minute run speed and zero speed ‘hover’ capabilities of the Apex hoists are also excellent, but above all they wanted the “confidence of knowing the system was absolutely safe that you get with a trusted brand like Kinesys”.
The four pods weighed 850Kg each and were tracked using eight Yale beam trolleys running with Kinesys Elevation 1+ drives.
Vasco Rossi shows are also known for their impressive, stark and industrial styled set designs and this one was no exception, complete with three large video screens – centre, left and right, all of which split horizontally in two.
The central screen measured 18m wide by 10m high (a perfect 16:9 aspect ratio), with two side ones at 12 x 12m.
These were all moved using a total of 20 x Kinesys-converted Liftket 1 tonne motors, all fitted with Kinesys LibraCELL load monitoring shackles to ensure accurate and vital safety feedback, which was sent to the Kinesys K2 controller and the Mentor series 4 Estop controller, another part of the Kinesys system.
They also had four 12-way DigiHoist controllers and hand-sets for general lifting and a Mentor Series 4 E stop across the entire system.
A Kinesys Vector PC was used during get-ins and tear-downs for simpler direct control of the motors.
(Jim Evans)
