The Netherlands - Gigant is an arts and performance complex in Apeldoorn, comprising two theatre spaces, a movie house, recording studios, music venue (popzaal) and a café.
The 550-capacity popzaal is a well-known hang out for music fans and a showcase for catching rising stars artists and ones-to-watch as they build their fanbases, and the venue also has a history with Robe moving lights.
The latest Robe products to be installed are Paintes, Cuetes and LEDBeam 150s which arrived at the end of 2023.
Technical manager Simon Kemme has been working at Gigant for three and a half years and explains that it is one of a genre of multifunctional cultural buildings built throughout the Netherlands – in this case in 1994 – which has encouraged the arts to flourish.
Before taking up the post here, he was a freelance sound & lighting technician who has worked with – and appreciated – Robe products for a long time, especially for their reliability and versatility.
Gigant’s popzaal – open Thursdays through Sunday each week – already had some Robe fixtures in the house when he arrived in 2021 - VIVAs and ColorSpot 250 ATs, the latter still working after many years of service.
“It was time for new lights – it’s as simple as that,” he explained, adding that he was asked by superiors to propose an appropriate lighting upgrade. Searching for the best options, he immediately hit on the Robe combination.
“It was always going to be Robe,” he stated, “My experience makes me very confident about the brand – it’s reliable and flexible enough to cover the range of shows we stage here,” and he also wanted good colour mixing, so reached out to Netherlands’ distributor Controllux’s Maikel Sakkers who provided a demo.
The 16 x LEDBeam 150s, 12 x Paintes and the Cuetes are now in action and helping to create varied light shows for the venue’s busy live music programme.
