VALASSKE MEZIRICI, Czech Republic – Robe gear may travel the world to light events staged in distant lands, but in the case of the 2010 Hrachovka Festival, the Robe fixtures were used in the backyard of the Czech factory where they were made. The festival featured Robe moving lights on the two main stages, supplied by locally based lighting company Stage Plus and run by Tomas Bierza. Robe also sponsored one of the stages, making their Robin fixtures available for use.
The lineup was an eclectic mix of Czech bands, including 2010 Czech and Slovak Superstar winner Martin Chodúr, Airfare, Plastic People of the Universe, ŽlutÅ· Pes, Electric Mann, PSH, Cocotte Minute and others, representing a diversity of styles and genres – rock, urban, electro, pop, punk and dance.
Lighting for both Ostravar and Robe Stages was designed by Bierza, and operated by him plus Dalibor Michenka from High Life Touring and Martin Valovy.
The Ostravar Stage had six Robe ColorSpot 2500 and six ColorWash 2500E ATs on its back truss and four ColorWash 2500E ATs on the floor. On the Robe Stage were four Robin 600 and four Robin 300 Spots on the back truss, eight ColorWash 700E ATs on the front and four ColorWash 700E ATs on the floor.
The rig for the Robe stage was designed about three weeks in advance of the event. Robins were chosen for their durability in outdoor environments, and their low weight and smaller size meant that lighter duty trussing could be used and less crew were required for the build, saving on overall production costs.
With little preparation and pre-programming time available and so many bands playing, lighting on both stages was designed to be operated "live" in improvised festival style.
The biggest challenge of the overall designs was that the lighting was flexible and diverse enough to give each artist an individual look and lightshow, and Bierza said that having all the Robe fixtures was "invaluable" to this process.
He has been using Robe XT and AT Series fixtures extensively on numerous shows and installations for about eight years, but this presented the first chance to use and see the new Robin range in action. He was most impressed with their extreme brightness and large palette of effects.
Afterwards, he stated that his fixture inventory will definitely be expanded to include Robins, particularly the 600s. "The weight-to-size-and-power ratio is very important to me as I service many small-to-medium sized events."
He also credited the color range, power and dimming of the ColorSpot 2500s, and the shows at Hrachovka were animated with many of the ColorSpot 2500's gobo effects as well.
This year marked a change for the festival, presented by ObÄÂanské Sdružení Festival Hrachovka (a not-for-profit association), managed by Bara ÄŒerna and Terezie Diehlova, both students of the Faculty of Multimedia Communication at Thomas Bata Univerzity in Zlín.
The one-day event drew about 2,000 people from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz .
