Cool Britannia For Robe

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Cape Town, South Africa based C&S Audio is a busy rental operation run by Donald Clark who has recently invested in over 80 new Robe fixtures - a mix of ColorSpot and ColorWash 700E AT moving lights - and the first of the new LEDForce 18s - in the country.

Delivered by Robe's South African distributor DWR, the new Robe moving lights - have replaced all C&S's previous mid range units from another manufacturer!

The first major gig for the new kit is "Cool Britannia", a month long music & football festival staged at Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), celebrating the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The venue - a concept by Global Icons - provides a space for football fans and music lovers to enjoy the matches live on big screens, followed by performances onstage throughout the day, culminating in a headline act after the last match of the evening. The dynamic line up includes Fatboy Slim, Estelle, Flash Republic, Cuba Libre, Flat Stanley, Euphonik and many others, and is attracting crowds up to the 6000 capacity each night.

C&S's new Robe units are the main fixtures lighting the stage inside Cool Britannia's Global Arena. The whole idea started 10 years ago primarily as a party and entertainment space for UK supporters - but has grown to include an international following amongst the travelling football supporter community.

Lighting designer Alan Muller worked with Donald Clark on the design, which firstly entailed the installation of over 300 metres of trussing in the roof of the CTICC to get the correct lighting positions.

With a wide selection of live artists and DJs appearing over the month representing all types of musical genre and the venue operating up to 18 hours a day, the rig needed to be highly flexible, a requirement made infinitely easier using the new Robe's.

The front truss features 6 x ColorWash 700E ATs used for general stage washes, and there are 4 'finger' trusses, angled and slightly offstage, each of which has 4 ColorSpot 700E ATs. There are another 4 ColorSpots on top of the back truss and 6 more ColorWash 700E ATs onstage for low level side lighting.

Five Robe LEDForce 18s are also deployed on each finger truss section - used for strong medium level cross stage washing and effects, with another 7 used as key lights on the front truss, a task they perform extremely efficiently. Clark thinks the pastel colours - often a problem area for LED fixtures - are "Amazing".

The LEDForce 18 contains 18 x 3in1 RGB LEDs or 18 x 3IN1 RGBW LED multichips and offer homogenized color mixing and a very bright 25 degree beam.

In the foyer another 20 LEDForce 18s are illuminating the concrete pillars. These are set on a slow chase each day to match the flag colours of the completing teams. A further 6 are lighting the trees.

Back in the Global Arena, Robe ColorWash 575 AT Zooms are used for house lighting and audience effects, along with other LED fixtures, PAR 64s and 56s.

Additional stage lighting includes PAR 64s and MultiPARs.

So why did Clarke choose Robe? "It's all about relationships for me," he states, by which he means the relationship between himself, Duncan Riley from DWR, Robe's Sales director Harry von den Stemmen and MD Josef Valchar.

He visited the Robe booth at Prolight+Sound in March, and that's when the seeds of the deal started to germinate.

"Duncan really went the extra mile to ensure I had the lights guaranteed to arrive on time, even before I had the gig confirmed," he explains "and the overall support from DWR has been incredible - for them this is the most important factor", adding that the reliability and great value of Robe also helped make the decision.

The Cool Britannia stage lighting is being controlled via an Avolites Tiger Touch console running ArtNet, with a Pearl Expert doing the house and audience lighting. Three lighting operators are rotating between the shows - Darion Garisch, Jonathan Green and Henning de Villiers.

"My team love the gobo selection on the Robes, the brightness and the easily navigable menu system. They are also light and easy to lift and handle, and overall have been absolutely fantastic," concludes Clark.

For more press info. on Robe Lighting, please contact Louise Stickland on +44 (0)1865 202679/+44 (0)7831 329888 or Email ‘[email protected]'. For more product and general info, check www.robe.cz or call + 420 (0)571 751 510.