Worakls arena shows orchestrated with Robe
- Details
To light these larger shows plus some additional European dates scheduled for early 2020, lighting designer Nicolas Galloux was asked onboard to add his visual magic into this musical collaboration.
Nicolas specified around 80 Robe moving lights to assist him in the task, including MegaPointes, BMFL Blades, Spiiders and LEDBeam 150s, all supplied by French rental company S Group who also provided the audio.
S Group’s technical director Nicolas Cantier was instrumental in getting Nicolas G involved with lighting these important shows, on which he worked closely with the artist to evolve the appropriate ambience and mood.
They made the decision that lighting should be the primary visual medium, so no video meant Nicolas was under a lot of pressure to accomplish all the desired effects and ramp up the overall emotional impact of the performance, a task he achieved with style and flare.
“With Worakls’ intricate music and all the depth and richness brought by the orchestra, I knew that with the right fixtures, I could achieve everything needed with lighting,” he explained.
The design and physical placement of the fixtures included a more structural and architectural approach.
With so many people onstage - Worakls was downstage centre surrounded by the orchestra on risers - Nicolas wanted to be able to shift attention to different parts of the stage and pick out individuals or groups of musicians at specific times to coincide exactly with accents and emphases in the music.
The 19 x BMFL Blades were all positioned on the overhead (triangular stacking) trusses and used for key lighting and specials as well as for big, dramatic beamy looks.
The MegaPointes were used for big bold aerial effects and colourful crescendos as well as for silhouetting and blow-through outlining the orchestra sharply in their beams. They were also used for more subtle backlighting effects on the musicians as they solo’d.
The 32 Spiiders were rigged on six vertical truss sections at the back offering an ideal position for general stage washing from more provocative angles. Nicolas used the individual ring control for some interesting effects.
The LEDBeam 150s were rigged in amongst the orchestra on the floor. They were easily small and light enough to be concealed in amongst the musicians without bothering them.
Nicolas ran the lighting from a grandMA3 full size console with a mix of manual and timecoded operation.
These three Worakls Zenith shows in France were promoted by Dancecode and were all sold out. The production manager was Gabriel Audrin and the equipment was coordinated for S Group by Anthony Picard.
(Jim Evans)
