Denmark - Allround Lyd & Lys (Light & Sound) based in Struer, Denmark, purchased Robe iForte LTX Follow Spots ahead of its busy 2024 festival season, so – in conjunction with its existing RoboSpot systems – going forward, it could offer “outstanding follow spotting facilities with dynamic festival stage lighting packages”.
Head of lighting, Martin Breinholt, and his team designed a quick-to-rig festival production lighting setup based on Robe LEDBeam 350s and Esprites for over-stage lighting, with the fixtures installed in pre-rigged trussing sections. These were deployed on a string of festivals around the country throughout summer.
Denmark’s music festival scene is one of the most vibrant and prolific, starting in mid-May and running until the end of September.
Eight units of each fixture type were rigged to a standard run of PRT, so the lighting rigs could easily be scaled up or down comprising one to three or more pieces of truss, depending on the size of the festival stage. The standard medium sized rig would involve a two-truss section set up with 16 x Esprites and 16 x LEDBeam 350s.
“Apart from making the operation smoother, it also makes the process more streamlined for visiting LDs and their bands,” explained Breinholt. “They know this as our standard festival format and therefore what to expect onstage, and they can program and tweak their showfiles accordingly.”
Most bands appearing throughout the summer season also toured with their own specials/floor packages to augment the overhead system.
Breinholt commented that both Esprites and LEDBeam 350s were “bright and versatile” as well as a good physical size – always a bonus for festival scenarios. He further observed that these luminaires work “very nicely” together.
The basic requirement for any festival stage is to have a selection of good, reliable spots and washes “and both these Robe fixtures are perfect for the job,” he confirmed, adding that they integrated seamlessly with most of the visiting floor packages, which typically contained beam lights of some sort.
Breinholt noted that the Esprites’ AirLOC (Less Optical Cleaning) technology means that the fixtures can be run for a whole festival season in the toughest conditions . . . without needing to be cleaned.
Allround Lyd & Lys has also had its own bespoke designed FOH follow spot towers engineered in Denmark, offering a slim mast and expedient footprint especially when compared to the cumbersome constructions needed to house traditional operated follow spots.
Breinholt notes that these can be built by one of their crew plus one stagehand quickly and efficiently, while the rest of the crew can be tackling other tasks. At the Ringsted Festival, one of the many on Allround’s summer 2024 itinerary, the tower was at the maximum height of 9m, but it can also be shorter as needed for the scenario.
Allround purchased its first Esprites in 2021 together with the initial LEDBeam 350s, and then added more of both fixtures. Last year, the company invested in another Robe Profile, the Painte, which is even more compact in size and ideal for the average B / other / alternative stages or tents at a festival, plus numerous other applications.
Last summer, 12 of its 24 Paintes were on duty on the festival circuit, while the other 12 were out on various tours.
Ringsted Festival - Hug Under the Treetops is one of Allround Lyd & Lys’ regular clients. Set in the leafy green environs of the city of the same name, the event location is a beautiful park, and it offers an inclusive and diverse environment for people of all ages, personalities and musical tastes.
