De Effenaar is a busy live music and multi-purpose venue in central Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Its two very flexible spaces offer capacity for 1300 people (standing) and 400 (standing) respectively, and a cafe restaurant area can cater for up to 100 people for functions and special events.
The venue has an eclectic programme of arts and entertainment including live music of all genres, dance shows, corporate events and parties, etc. and is both a producing and a receiving house. The average performance rate is about six shows a week throughout the year.
The venue recently made a large investment in Robe moving lights at the instigation of technical manager Charles Konings. These replacing all their previous moving light stock in the large hall - which was from a competitor brand!
The Robes were supplied by the Dutch office of Benelux distributor Controllux, which has had a healthy and happy working relationship with De Effenaar for some time.
The first delivery of Robes into the venue was in 2009 in the form of four ColorSpot 250E ATs - which were an immediate hit with all the crew, technicians and lighting designers. This was then followed up in 2010 with 12 x ROBIN 300 Spots which were deployed in the small hall.
These made such a difference to the quality and creativity of the shows they could produce that they then decided to purchase 16 x ROBIN 600 Spots and 24 ROBIN MMX Spots in December 2011 to replace the existing moving lights in the large hall.
The ROBIN 600 Spots are rigged on the over-stage trusses and the MMXs on a box truss over the audience, where their repertoire of funky and mind-boggling effects really have a chance to make impact for dance events.
So why did Konings choose Robe in such a highly competitive market? "It was a combination of our very good relationship with Controllux," he explains, "And the quality of Robe compared to other brands". He adds that seeing Robe really starting to penetrate the market, and becoming increasingly prevalent in clubs and venues as well as in rental company stocks gave them real confidence and underlined their decision.
He also involved his full technical team in the decision, which consists of around 20 freelancers all of whom are also busy out and about working around the country and internationally, and every one of them gave good reports on Robe. "It's really important that my crew are happy with the equipment they are using," he affirms.
The ROBIN 600 Spots were picked for the speed, silent operation and high light output. The MMXs were selected because they are the very latest technology and for their special and intricate effects. "No other brand's product is doing this," explains Konings, "MMX is an amazing fixture and everyone is impressed".
One of the venue's main lighting designers is Natasha Von Haaften (also a freelance) who says, "We are all very excited to be working with the new Robes, they are very fast, have good colour-mixing and are completely versatile - with the zoom out and the frost filter in, they can even mimic a wash source".
Konings also mentions the weight issues - with the MMX weighing 25.7 kgs and the ROBIN Spot 600 a very expedient 21.7 kgs, these are much easier to lift and handle by the crews.
Other than all these reasons, De Effenaar can offer visiting productions a top quality lighting rig with all the creative scope needed for any type of show.
In both halls the lights are controlled by grandMA light consoles. The first shows for the new kit in the main hall included a popular Pink Floyd cover band and De Effenaar's fashionable marathon 1980s & 90s club nights.
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 + 420 571 751 510.
Photo shows Die Effenaar technical manager Charles Konings and lighting designer Natasha Von Haaften