Mignone positioned 24 Legend 330SR Spot moving fixtures over the audience section of the 135,000 square foot converted ocean liner terminal (officially called Pier 94) for the Kaskade show, which was produced by RPM Presents. All of the fixtures were directed at the crowd of 10,000 fans.
"Audience lighting is critical at any EDM concert because fans want to be engaged with the artist," said Mignone. "However, this is especially true with an artist like Kaskade because of the way he connects to the audience."
This connection was very much in evidence at Kaskade's Pier of Fear concert, which was held to support his ninth album Automatic.
"Audience lighting serves two functions," said Mignone. "It makes the audience feel more engaged with the performance, and it gives the artist a closer connection to the audience."
To support this connection, Mignone ran the Legend 330SR Spots at full light cannon power, a beefy 62,200 lux at 5 meters. He also ran the fixtures, which were mounted on house trusses, at a wide 24° beam angle for maximum area coverage. "A good thing about the Legends is that they gave us a lot of coverage in a big room without being very bulky or difficult to hang," he said.
Controlling his lighting rig with a full-sized grandMA2 controller, Mignone used the Legends to project a variety of gobo and prism effects on the crowd. "We like to vary the audience lighting and change it with the music to make people feel like they're part of the show," he said. "Fans come to a venue like this to see an artist like Kaskade because they want to be part of an experience. We always want our lighting to contribute to the creation of this experience for them."
(Jim Evans)
