To replace the system, White Light worked with lighting designer Mark Henderson to devise a system that provided the venue's concerts with the lighting they needed while also being versatile, easy to maintain and easy to control.
The new installation is based around a series of small lighting grids installed on winches to allow easy access to the equipment at ground level; the winches were installed for White Light by Unusual Rigging. The grids are fitted with 50 1kW fresnels from Robert Juliat, which provide bright, even lighting for the venue's concerts. "We chose the Juliat fresnels for their superb build quality," notes White Light's technical sales manager, Roger Hennigan, "but the versatility of their rotating barndoors may also prove useful on occasion."
The new lanterns are run from 96 ways of ETC Sensor dimmers, controlled from a Unison processor via two custom Unison outstations and a portable LCD programming station. "This system allows the lighting to be quickly set for most of the general concert configurations, with tweaking of levels possible using the LCD controller," Hennigan explains. "We've also built in the capability for a DMX lighting desk to take control of the system if necessary for a larger or more complex production."
(Jim Evans)
