CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Cool Britannia, a music and soccer festival staged recently at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) was lit by C&S Lighting using some of the 80 Robe fixures that C&S recently purchased through Robe distributor DWR. The gear included over 80 new Robe fixtures. Along with some of the first LEDForce 18s to be shipped to South Africa, the purchase included a mix of ColorSpot and ColorWash 700E AT moving lights and ColorWash 575 AT Zooms.
The Cool Britannia concept, by Global Icons, provided a space for soccer fans and music lovers to watch the matches live on big screens with live music performed onstage throughout the day.
C&S's new Robe units were the main fixtures lighting the stage inside Cool Britannia's Global Arena. Performers included Fatboy Slim, Estelle, Flash Republic, Cuba Libre, Flat Stanley, Euphonik and others, attracting crowds up to the Cool Britannia venue's 5,000-person limit.
The idea for Cool Britannia started 10 years ago primarily as a party and entertainment space for U.K. supporters, but has grown to include an international following among the traveling soccer fan community.
The lighting design by Alan Muller, who was named technical advisor to Global Icons, entailed the installation of over 300 meters of trussing in the roof of the CTICC to attain the correct lighting positions.
With a wide selection of live artists and DJs artists appearing represented all types of musical genre and the venue operating up to 18 hours a day, the flexibility of the new Robe fixtures was used to good effect.
The front truss featured six ColorWash 700E ATs used for general stage washes. There also were four "finger" trusses, angled and slightly offstage, each of which had four ColorSpot 700E ATs. Another four ColorSpots were positioned on top of the back truss, and six more ColorWash 700E ATs were onstage for low-level side lighting.
Five Robe LEDForce 18s were also deployed on each finger truss section – used for strong medium level cross stage washing and effects, with another seven used as key lights on the front truss. C&S head Donald Clark called the LED fixtures' pastel colors "amazing."
The LEDForce 18 contains 18 three-in-one RGB LEDs or 18 three-in-one RGBW LED multichips and offers homogenized color mixing and a bright 25 degree beam.
In the foyer, another 20 LEDForce 18s illuminated the concrete pillars. These were set on a slow chase each day to match the flag colors of the completing teams. Another six of the fixtures lit the trees and foliage.
Back in the Global Arena, AV Alliance's Robe ColorWash 575AT Zooms were used for house lighting and audience effects, along with other LED fixtures, PAR 64s and 56s.
Additional stage lighting included PAR 64s, strobes, blinders and MultiPARs.
So why did Clark choose Robe? "It's all about relationships for me" he said, by which he means the relationship between himself, Duncan Riley from DWR, Robe's sales director Harry von den Stemmen and MD Josef Valchar.
He visited the Robe booth at Prolight+Sound in March, and that's when the seeds of the deal started to germinate.
"Duncan really went the extra mile to ensure I had the lights guaranteed to arrive on time, even before I had the gig confirmed" Clark explained, "and the overall support from DWR has been incredible – for them this is the most important factor." He added that Robe's reputation for reliability and value helped too.
The Cool Britannia stage lighting was controlled via an Avolites Tiger Touch console running ArtNet, with a Pearl Expert doing the house and audience lighting. Three lighting operators rotated between the shows – Henning de Villiers, Darion Garrison and Jonathan Green.
"My team love the gobo selection on the Robes, the brightness and the easily navigable menu system. They are also light and easy to lift and handle, and overall have been absolutely fantastic" concluded Clark.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz, www.dwrdistribution.co.za and www.csaudio.co.za.
