Patronaat invests in Robe ESPRITES

Robe ESPRITES have joined the house lighting rig at Patronaat in Haarlem, one of the core music venues in the northern Netherlands, which features two busy halls and a café area all hosting performances, a vibrant mix of rock and pop shows, banging club nights and dynamic music‐based festival events.

The new fixtures were actually delivered at the start of 2020, but with successive Covid‐19 lockdowns over the last 18 months, they have only started being used extensively since re‐ opening, explained head of lighting Robin van der Plas. Lighting designers and the Patronaat’s own house lighting crew – including senior lighting technician Frits Barends – are loving the new moving lights.

Twenty‐four ESPRITES are installed in the main 950 capacity main hall, with the other 12 in the smaller second hall space, making up a total of 36 luminaires, all of them making a massive difference to the way shows can now be lit. They effectively replace the first Robe fixtures in the house – 36 x MMX Spots purchased in 2012 from Robe’s Benelux distributor, Controllux. In the two years before 2020, 14 Robe Spiider LED wash beams and 48 x LEDBeam 150s had also been added to the house rigs, together with 26 x ParFect 150s, so Robe is a “hugely popular rider‐friendly” choice explained technical manager Victor Jas.

ESPRITES were chosen for their output and functionality including the shutters, which were a “major plus” commented Robin, who was also very keen on having a white source LED in the house. “They are great multipurpose lights that can be used for many tasks.”

A Road Hog console provides control in both venues, and the small hall lighting rig is a scaled down version of the large one, with the 12 ESPRITES plus LEDBeam 150s instead of Spiiders.

Frits still loved the old MMX Spots before they were replaced, and in fact this is one of Robe’s ‘legacy’ fixtures which still very much has its own fan club.

www.robe.cz

Photos © Louise Stickland