The Godskitchen Global Gathering, a kind of Woodstock of dance music, was held July 28-29 at the Long Marston Airfield in Staffordshire, England. The event consisted of six arenas (each named after a well-known dance club), 75 DJs, and 25,000 attendees dancing for 15 hours straight, in spite of temperatures that soared into the 90s. Naturally, an event this big was also a festival of lighting gear. Leeds-based rental house Zig Zag Lighting supplied equipment and design for the six arenas and the VIP tent. Over 1,300' of trussing was rigged on 41 points by John Lockwood, under the supervision of crew chief Robert “Griff” Griffin.
Avolites was the control company of choice for the event, with virtually its entire line of products on hand. The main arena, Godskitchen, featured a Diamond 3, programmed and operated by Patrick “Paddy” Sollitt. Arena 2, called Tidy Trax, was controlled by a Sapphire 2000 programmed and operated by Damian Courage; Arena 3, known as Babooshka, had a Pearl 2000 run by Pete Bramell; and Arenas 4 (Helter Skelter), 5 (Sidewinder UK Garage), and 6 (Session Musik Magazine) all had Pearl 2000s, with Andrew Hanson, Bob Mills, and Gareth Lonsdale, respectively, in control. The VIP area was controlled by an Azure Shadow. The boards handled all conventional and moving lighting (over 210 moving units).
The main arena, Godskitchen, was a six-pole, 10,000-capacity circus tent with four 40' pre-rigged trusses straddling the corners and a 48' central truss in line with the stage. The latter supported three circular trusses, which formed the arena's lighting centerpiece. The main dance floor lighting came from 20 Coemar CF1200 hard-edged luminaires and 12 Coemar CF7 HEs, along with an array of conventional units and strobes. Neil Hunt, of Zig Zag, notes that he bought his first CF1200s at a gear auction for London's late, lamented Millennium Dome, and has added to his inventory since. The rest of the Coemar fixtures were supplied to Zig Zag by UK distributor Coe-Tech. Speaking of the CF7s, he says, “Its huge zoom range means it's highly versatile and usable as a washlight as well as a clearly defined profile.” Hunt adds that he prefers Avolites consoles for events such as this, where flexibility and programming speed are most important.
Zig Zag provided a team of 12 for the event; the company was contracted by Leeds-based production company Logistik. Mike Farmer was the production manager. Reports indicate that the energy never let up over the course of 15 hours.