DUBLIN — Rental company Just Lite provided Robe moving lights for the main stage and surrounding areas at the 2011 Oxegen Festival in County Kildare, Ireland, including more than 100 used for the main stage. The fixtures’ reliability was put to the test when the skies opened and it rained throughout the first day of the event.
The festival in Ireland is promoted by MCD, and Just Lite’s Paul and Alan Smith have been working with MCD’s Denis Desmond for the last 11 years, when the festival was originally launched as Witnness in 2000. This year, Just Lite once again served as the main lighting contractor on site for the three-day Oxegen event, lighting the Main Stage, The Heineken Green Spheres arena, the 2FM Hotpress Academy tent (for new talent), the Red Bull outdoor arena and the VIP bar.
“With the truly stellar line up this year, we really wanted to up the production values and ensure that everyone had the best technology at their fingertips,” said Smith.
Main stage headliners included the Black Eyed Peas, Foo Fighters and Coldplay, and a number of other performances including a homecoming set by The Script.
Liam McCarthy was Just Lite’s crew chief on site, with the FOH domain at the main stage coordinated by Mark Hanna. They looked at all the various band’s specs and designed a production that could accommodate everyone’s needs. All the headliners and some other artists also brought in their own floor specials packages.
Robe fixtures were chosen for, among other reasons, reliability. “The Robes are absolutely brilliant in bad weather – they are built for festivals,” said McCarthy.
Some of the fixtures were rigged on fully exposed places around the stage, like the PA wings and on the audience-side of the front truss. These were all fitted with Robe’s Rain Hats.
On the main stage there were 40 Robe ColorWash 1200E ATs, 36 ColorSpot 1200E ATs, 16 ColorWash 2500E ATs and six ColorSpot 2500E ATs. These were also chosen for their high output – they needed lights that would register well onstage for the daylight sections of the show.
The Robes were arranged on four overhead straight trusses and two side trusses rigged at about 7 meters in height, half way between floor and roof trim. They were used for all the general lighting and stage washing, with the upstage Spot fixtures adding to the effects as it became darker with dramatic beam-work and gobos, etc.
There was also a large generic lighting rig comprising PARs, strobes, 4 and 8-lite blinders, 8 FOH follow spots and 4 truss spots. Two Road Hog Full Boar consoles were supplied for control, and some visiting LDs also brought in their own desks.
The Just Lite crew of 25 worked in shifts throughout the weekend, so no-one became burned out doing the extensive overnight changeovers required.
Lighting designers for the headline acts included Gary Waldie (“Sport”) who looks after the Black Eyed Peas, Dan Healey for the Foo Fighters and Graeme Fest, who is lighting director for Coldplay’s show which is designed by Paul Normandale. Jamie Thompson, The Script’s LD, produced a stunning look and feel for their performance, which included a special duet between lead singer Danny O’Donoghue and rapper Tinie Tempah. They also used their own touring lighting specials package. Other appearances on this stage included Beyonce and the Arctic Monkeys.
Over in the Green Spheres Arena, the core of the lighting rig was 16 of Just Lite’s new Robe ROBIN 600 Spots, delivered just in time to go straight on to this event. Lighting was operated and looked after by Nick Malbon. It was all hung on a 6 legged ground support system, and included PARs, egg strobes, Source Four profiles and PARs, complete with a Hog iPC console for control. Headliners in here included Leftfield, Propaganda DJs and Primal Scream.
Showcasing up-and-coming talent was the 2FM Hotpress Academy (The Script played on this stage four years ago), for which Just Lite installed a four-legged ground support system and lighting, including 12 Robe ColorSpot 575E ATs plus generics and an Avolites Pearl Expert desk.
In the VIP Bar, there were 12 Robin 300 Beams and 12 Robin 600 LEDWashes, also part of Just Lite’s recent purchases, and already scoring points with crew and technicians. “I simply can’t believe how bright and dynamic the LED Wash 600 is for such a small unit,” said Paul Smith.
The use of Robe’s newest smaller, brighter, lighter – and considerably greener – fixtures also helped towards Oxegen maintaining its claim to be Ireland’s greenest festival and 100% carbon neutral.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz.
