SYDNEY — Clifton Productions provided over 200 Robe moving lights for Australia’s Future Music Festival 2009 tour, headlined by Basement Jaxx, N.E.R.D, CSS, Paul Oakenfold and Grandmaster Flash and featuring local DJs on up to nine themed stages. The Melbourne and Sydney events had the largest and most diverse offering of stages and performances, with the Sydney show spread across three venues, Randwick Racecourse and Hordon Pavilion, and the Enmore Theatre.
Lighting for the main Future Stage at Randwick Racecourse consisted of eight Robe ColorSpot and eight ColorWash 700E ATs, all hung on a front truss. It was a combination of the design and specs of headliners Basement Jaxx and N.E.R.D.
Four Robe ColorWash 1200E ATs were positioned on side-stage dollies downstage for low level cross lighting with another six, also on dollies, upstage across the back for back lighting and silhouetting effects. Another 22 Robe ColorWash and 14 ColorSpot 1200E ATs were rigged on the mid and back trusses, used for all-stage color washes and beam effects.
Matt Larrobino, who designed the lighting for the N.E.R.D. show at the Hordon Pavilion stage, used a Hog 3 console. Jonathan “Leggy” Armstrong, who had used Robe gear previously, designed and operated the lighting for the Basement Jaxx show at the Enmore Theatre stage.
Andy Mutton and Matt Downs designed and operated the Future Music stage. The Likes Of You Stage was located in a six-pole tented venue. Andy Mutton designed the lighting there as well, with all the Robes rigged vertically on dollies that could be swiftly wheeled on and offstage, allowing the scaffolding structure for Etienne De Crecy’s projection show to be rolled onstage.
Overhead, six Robe ColorWash 2500E ATs, six ColorSpot 1200E ATs and 14 ColorSpot 700E ATs made a visual impact. Eight of the 700s were rigged from a 4-meter baby box made from 300mm square alloy truss flown above the DJ console, and all lighting was run from a grandMA full size console.
Other stages to featuring Robe included the Sublime Stage, with eight ColorSpot 2500E ATs and eight ColorWash 700E ATs. There, some of the fixtures integrated into the overall visual design consisting of Vuepix LED screens suspended in pyramid shaped trusses. Rob Easton of E Productions operated the visuals.
The Grandstand Stage also used 12 Robe ColorSpot 575E ATs, run from a Pearl Tiger.
Matt Downs and Michael Parsons coordinated the tour for Clifton Productions.
“This was the largest Future Music Festival to date and consequently one of the most challenging logistically,” Downs said. “All our Robe inventory was out with festivals in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide over the same three day period — all with identical rigs.”
At the same time, Clifton Productions was also supplying lighting to the Melbourne International Motor Show and the Toybox dance event in Sydney for Mardi Gras. “As always, the Robes worked with great reliability all round, and all the festival’s visiting LDs really enjoyed using them as well,” Downs noted.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz.
