Groene Engel – Green Angel in Dutch – is a lively cultural hub located in the city of Oss in the south of the Netherlands, which stages music concerts, films, theatre productions, comedy, dance events, educational debates, pop quizzes, and a plethora of visual arts events.
The lighting rig was recently upgraded with three types of Robe moving lights – 12 x PAINTES, 12 x LEDBeam 150s and 8 x LEDBeam 350s – a popular combination which has given the venue the adaptability and scope to light all of their shows and events more effectively.
These luminaires were specified because they offered great production values for a wide mix of performance genres staged in the 600-capacity main hall.
Involved in the choice were Kristian Vloet, a freelance lighting designer who regularly works at Groene Engel and also for rental company Stagelight; the venue’s production manager, Maren Kabbedijk, who has been overseeing all the technical elements for the last three years, and multi-tasking technician Frank Schel, who is mainly focused on lighting and sometimes audio. Frank has worked at Groene Engel full-time for five years and also lights many shows.
The lighting in the building was initially installed when Groene Engel opened as a venue in 1999. It primarily comprised PAR cans … so this was long overdue for an upgrade. This is also where Kristian came in to assist in choosing the most appropriate solutions for lighting the diverse entertainment programme.
There was no discussion about whether these should be LED – in the Netherlands, most performance spaces are currently in the process of transitioning. At Groene Engel, they didn’t previously have any moving lights in-house. As these are relatively common in most venues in the Netherlands, this was an obvious path forward – and certainly those presenting live music – with all the dance party promoters constantly asking for movers!
Kristian suggested that they invested in basic spot, wash, beam, and blinder functionality to cover all essential lighting bases, and while he was already familiar with Robe products, he also wanted to look at other options to ensure the venue got exactly the right kit for their needs.
“Once all the evaluations were complete, we decided Robe was the best choice with a combination of these three fixture types to cover all those main requirements,” confirmed Kristian.
He had not personally had hands-on experience with PAINTES at that time, but the spec was “perfect” for the venue, together with both sizes of LEDBeam, which are extremely popular and will be familiar to most operators.
He added that “the fixtures are high quality, extremely well made and everyone likes them.”
Kristian, Frank, and Maren all appreciate the fact that Robe products are proudly ‘Made in Europe,’ and naturally, they enjoy an excellent and productive working relationship with Benelux distributor, Controllux, where their account is managed by Romec Berendsen.
Frank, who lights many shows at the venue, has been delighted with the additional scope and versatility he now has at his fingertips. He collaborates with several volunteer technicians from the local community, for whom the new installation enriches their lighting design and operating experiences.
Groene Engel’s season runs from September to June, during which time there will be at least 70 live music shows at a rate of 2 or 3 a week.
The first show to use the new Robe products was a Joy Division tribute act, ‘Closer to Curtis’, lit by Frank, who had also run lighting for them before with the old setup. Needless to say, now, there is absolutely no comparison!
Kristian and Maren recently visited the Robe Factory on a trip organised by Controllux: “It was VERY impressive, the standards of the engineering, crafting and detail that goes into every luminaire are great – and this is reflected in all products.”
Photos by Louise Stickland