AIG 100 Event dazzles with Robe

A special Afrikaans is 100 Jaar Groot (Afrikaans celebrates 100 Years) centenary concert was staged at the DHL Stadium in Green Point, Cape Town, South Africa. An impressive lighting design for the occasion was imagined by Joshua Cutts and Andre Siebrits from Visual Frontier, featuring over 450 Robe moving lights. All lighting, video, audio and rigging equipment for the event was supplied by the leading South African rental and production company, MGG, project managed for them by Günther Müller. Earlier in the year, MGG had made a huge investment in Robe iFORTE and SVB1 fixtures to add to their already extensive Robe rental inventory, which was utilised in the show.

The Robe fixture counts comprised 4 x iFORTE LTXs running on RoboSpot remote follow systems, 24 x iFORTES, 22 x Tetra2s, 16 x Spiider LED wash beams running in Mode 4, 26 x ESPRITE Profiles, 38 x LEDWash 600s, 24 x BMFL Blades, 24 x MegaPointes, 47 x LEDBeam 350s, 24 x Pointes, another 8 Spiiders running in Mode 2, 36 x Spikies, 48 x SVB1s, 98 x LEDBeam 150s and 8 x BMFL WashBeams. These were a vital element on a rig of over 1000 lighting fixtures.

Josh and Andre are big Robe users and advocates, so they dipped into MGG’s extensive stock and designed lighting that was flown underneath a massive StageCo roof system and 25-metre-wide stage below. This was supplied by Gearhouse South Africa (GHSA) together with other structures.

GHSA also supplied elements of the L-Acoustics PA together with MGG. The stage design and LED screen layout was created by Günther, featuring three large LED surfaces upstage, a central 9 x

16 screen plus two slightly angled supporting 16 x 9 screens on either side, multi-layered LED riser fronts for the house band/orchestra and two portrait-oriented IMAG screens.

“Robe was a natural choice for us,” commented Josh, “for all its brightness, versatility and reliability,” further explaining that the fundamental rule for lighting any stadium show … is ensuring that there are large quantities of lights in there to fill the space.

While that might seem obvious, 1000 lights in a stadium space is not overkill, and it’s an illustration of how Josh and Andre are highly skilled at filling the space appropriately and with the correct products.

“Of course, we then need the right products to bring our visions to life,” underlines Andre. “Apart from the fact that MGG owns so much Robe, it would have been our go-to anyway for functionality,” he continues, “With so much LED and so many performers on stage, and a 3.5-hour show, we needed plenty of firepower and flexibility, and the Robe products gave us all of that and more!”

On the four FOH delay tower positions – a hugely important element of the rig, as audiences needed to clearly see the performers before any visual effects took over – the 24 x Robe iFORTES were deployed, six fixtures per tower. The four iFORTE LTX FSs complete with integral camera running on the RoboSpot system were also rigged here, one per tower.

This configuration providedhigh-quality, precise remote follow-spot control and front light over some seriously long distances. Each delay tower also incorporated a selection of eye-candy and effects fixtures, extending the show’s visual energy into the audience and accentuating the strong sense of depth between the main stage and the rear of the venue. MGG was the first rental company in South Africa to invest in the iFORTES and iFORTE LTX systems, delivered by Robe’s South African distributor DWR.

Thanks to their IP rating, output, and versatility, they were a perfect choice for front lighting this show, delivering the power, reliability, and creative flexibility required to handle such a dynamic multi-artist lineup.

Josh and Andre appreciated the excellent continuity and colour matching enabled by using all these different ranges and eras of Robe luminaires, from the classics to the newest Robe technologies, all helping to achieve spectacular results.

The biggest challenge – as nearly always – was the tight timescale on site, for which Josh and Andre hailed their “incredible” MGG lighting crew, chiefed by Pierre van Wyk, who worked tirelessly with eight technicians at the stadium, together with a 6-person Springbok (rugby) style “Bomb Squad” who came in during the last 2 days to blitz the final stages and get the rig ready for handover.

www.robe.cz

Photos © Kief Kreativ