ADLIB Designs & Supplies Lighting & Sound to Four Creamfields 2012 Arenas

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ADLIB Solutions' specialist design division, led by award winning LD Ian Tomlinson created lighting production designs for four arenas at the 2012 Creamfields Festival. The Liverpool based technical production company also supplied lighting and sound equipment and crew for these areas.

The three-day 2012 event attracted 55,000 dance music fans to see, hear and experience a truly stunning line up of the best DJs and current acts ‘of the moment’ on the planet, at the site in Daresbury near Runcorn in Cheshire.

Creamfields - born out of legendary Liverpool super club Cream - and ADLIB have a long history of involvement, and this year ADLIB was again working for the event’s technical producers, LarMac LIVE – Jo MacKay and Ian Greenway.

ADLIB supplied the massive Cream Arena, the Annie Mac Presents Arena, the brand new Fire It Up Arena hosted by Creamfields favourite Eddie Halliwell and the Hed Kandi Hospitality.

While the production design brief was relatively open for all areas, both the Cream and Annie Mac Presents Arenas also had to be flexible enough to accommodate visiting artists with their own ‘specials’ packages in a fuss-free operation.

Cream of the Show

ADLIB designed a festival style rig in this tent, with lighting and video kit hung on a combination of ground support and overhead trusses flown from the tent king poles.

Moving lights were a mix of Martin MAC 700 Washes & Profiles, Clay Paky Sharpies, with an impressive array of Atomic strobes, and 2-lite Moles on the front truss pointing into the audience.

Further audience lighting – more MAC 700s - was rigged in two trusses running lengthways down either side of the tent.

ADLIB also designed the video system.

Supplied by XL Video, this consisted of a full LED screen upstage, with additional LED panels cladding the legs of the ground support and extending outwards towards the stage edges on stands. The stands were also rigged with more Sharpies.

This resulted in a different and interesting overall look and feel, and space for guest systems to be easily fitted in.

Tomlinson reports that they received lots of positive feedback from visiting LDs and crews for their joined up approach.

The production rig consoles were a Road Hog Full Boar and an Avolites Pearl Expert with a Wing.

Annie Mac Presents

This stage ran for two days (Friday & Saturday) with an overnight change to incorporate Groove Armada’s headline set on the second night, again with a combination of ground supported and flown elements.

Lighting fixtures included a lot of Sharpies, with a semi-circle of CK ColorBlaze 48 x LED battens crowning the stage and another semi-circle mirroring the effect on the floor, with the DJ booth positioned in between the two sets of lights.

A truss sub-hung from the ground support at the half-way point over the stage was loaded with MAC 301 LED washes and 4-lite Moles.

For the first night, ADLIB supplied 26 x panels of their Pixled F-30 LED screen configured in columns hung at the back and on the sides of the ground support. On night two this was transformed into one large solid upstage wall. ADLIB also supplied another Catalyst v4 media server for video control together with all video content.

CK ColorBlaze 48s were deployed around the floor, and to open the space up, vertical scaffolding towers were added to the sides of stage, loaded with 4-lite Moles and Atomics.

The consoles were a Hog 3 and an Avolites Pearl Expert Touch Wing.

Fire It Up

In the Fire It Up arena, the same design was utilised for both days of its operation, featuring a full video wall at the back (from XL) with Catalyst content and control supplied by ADLIB.

A ground supported trussing goal post provided the main lighting positions, populated with MAC 250 Beam and MAC 700 profile moving lights plus a proliferation of strobes. MAC Auras were used for audience lighting on their own separate truss, with an Avolites Pearl Expert for control.

Hed Kandi Hospitality

ADLIB added a bit of visual craziness to this area utilised as a chill zone and social hub by VIP ticket holders and beautiful people, and so the aim was to make it look gorgeous for the occasion!

The space was defined by three conjoined Saddlespan tents, and divided into a bar, seating area with food and a dancefloor for the movers and groovers.

ADLIB's design was based on more ambient overall room lighting, created with the careful deployment of PixelPARs and MAC250 Washes. Each of the Saddlespan areas was architecturally lit with well positioned MAC 350 Entours and 301s.

In the centre of the space ADLIB rigged circular truss that united all three areas together, used as a rigging point for more MAC 350s and profiles to highlight the DJ.

LED snowflake decorative effects were hung in the roof for an additional cool effect.

All lighting was programmed into a Pearl Expert which was self-running.

ADLIB's Phil Stoker co-ordinated the supply of PA systems to all these areas, with a JBL VerTec system to the Cream Arena and Coda Airline LA12 systems for Annie Mac Presents, Fire It Up and Hed Kandi Hospitality.

In addition to all this activity, ADLIB Design’s Ian Tomlinson - LD for the Swedish House Mafia - looked after lighting for Steve Angello's own Size Matters Arena; Alesso who played the South Stage (open air) on Saturday night as well as for Axwell …..who would have brought the house down on Sunday …..

….. But for another bout of truly appalling UK weather, with torrential rain and high winds forcing the organisers to shut the site early on Sunday morning!

Adlib Account Manager Phil Kielty commented “with the current re-birth of EDM, it’s been amazing furthering our relationship with Creamfields again this year. People probably don’t realise but their team behind the scenes works so hard, not only to put together an amazing line up but to create such a relaxed atmosphere on site too. The only unpredictable factor is the UK weather! But everyone pulled together to work hard to create a great community spirit when the weather hit hardest and everyone should be applauded for this.”

Photo credit: Anthony Mooney - DJ Ben Gold in the CREAM ARENA