LONDON – Fans never settle back in their seats at one of Anna Meredith’s shows. Nor should they. With its bold, sometimes jarring, mash up of divergent musical styles and intense, nervy undertones, her music is meant to challenge, not comfort, audiences, as it mirrors the uncertainties and inconsistencies of modern life, ultimately leading those who ride its winding currents to a deeper understanding of this moment in history.
Reflecting the raw, unsettling power and complexity of this award-winning composer and performer’s music in light is no easy undertaking, especially when one must contend with limited time, space and budget. But that’s precisely what Simon Horn did on February 5, when Meredith appeared a London’s progressive EartH, with help from a collection of CHAUVET DJ lighting fixtures.
“For a one-off show with minimal space, power draw, and load-in time, I need something that could be set up quickly and easily, yet still allow me to create the kind of immersive looks that would support this artist’s exciting music,’ said Horn, of Purple Lighting Ltd. “I also knew that uplighting the area around the stage and backlighting the band itself would be critical to creating the kind of mood I was after.”
Horn found what he was looking for in the CHAUVET DJ Freedom Flex H4 IP. Positioning 12 of the battery powered, wireless fixtures at the edges of the stage for uplighting, and a further 12 behind the band for backlighting and curtain silhouetting, he created a dreamy, other-worldly aura around the stage that reinforced the beckoning transcendental quality of Meredith’s music.
The adjustable kickstand on the Freedom Flex H4 IP allowed Horn to achieve the light angles he wanted despite the relatively cramped quarters on the venue’s stage. “Given the spatial limitations we faced, it would not have been possible to get the desired angle with a traditional up light type of fixture,” he said. “The tilt option along with the wireless operation made these lights ideal for this particular application.”
Drawing on the exhaustive color rendering capabilities of the Flex H4 IP’s hex-color (RGBAW + UV) LED technology, Horn subtly changed the mood of the room by gradually shifting palettes. Matching the color from the lights with the video images on the wall behind the stage, he immersed the entire room in a visual representation of the music.
“My trusty ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium was at the helm here and was essential to the success of this show,” said Horn. “Given that we were pressed for time, I relied on my MQ500 to set up cues quickly. Also, I had the Magic HD driving media content, which consisted of original pictures and video. This really set the visual tone for the evening.”
Adding to the impact of Horn’s design were the four CHAUVET DJ Intimidator 140SR Hybrid lighting fixtures that he positioned on upstage road cases. Taking advantage of their color rendering capabilities and output, he relied on these fixtures to send patterns of beams shooting into the air.
“I loved the wide broken exciting beam effects that could be achieved by combining both prisms at once,” said Horn of the Intimidator fixture, noting that it created looks that were “surprising, original and defiant of expectations.” In other words, a lot like the music he lit on this February evening.
About CHAUVET DJ
CHAUVET DJ is a premier line of entertainment lighting, controllers and accessories for the mobile performer, DJs, clubs, corporate events and more - offering the most value in the industry. www.chauvetdj.com
About Chauvet
Chauvet, headquartered in the USA, is a leading global manufacturer of professional luminaires, truss and related equipment, fulfilling the needs of various industry sectors. Chauvet has four main brands: CHAUVET DJ, CHAUVET Professional, ILUMINARC and TRUSST. They share Chauvet’ s unified strategy to pursue every market segment where it has a competitive advantage in terms of value, innovation and performance, with an emphasis on LED technology. For more information, please visit www.chauvetlighting.com