For the first year, lighting and visuals rental specialist Fineline - also based in Bristol - was asked to supply lighting equipment, LED screens / media server control, rigging and a visual production design for the Main Stage ... which seriously upped its production values from 2013 in line with the profile of the festival which sold out its 12,000 capacity on both days.
Fineline's MD Rob Sangwell commented, "We were delighted to be asked on-board by festival organisers, Team Love, as we are really committed to partnering on locally based shows and events. We presented two design options for the stage from which they chose the more expensive, which really underlines how much they value good presentation.
"Apart from that, there is an incredibly vibrant live music and event scene happening in Bristol right now, so it's great to be part of that too."
Presenting an integrated lighting and video package was right at the essence of the imaginative production design created by Fineline's Wingnut which was customised to fit the stage - a compact 12 metre Super Nova Light from Serious - utilising virtually every centimetre of available space!
"The idea was to make an equally big impression for both audience and artists," he explains.
He incorporated all the regular festival lighting requirements - like flexibility and ensuring that the design enhanced the stage in the daylight hours as well as after dark.
The visual design incorporated 20 panels of Lighthouse R7 LED screen which was configured as five columns - three flown upstage and two ground-staked downstage either side.
Apart from replaying funky and interesting video content, these were also used for dramatic full-on lighting effects like strobing.
An Avolites AI media server was used for all the visual control, set up and programmed by Fineline's Stu England who also co-ordinated, formatted and ran all the guest content - some of which was submitted in advance, and some appeared literally minutes before the act was about to take to the stage - which kept him on his toes!
Four double truss pods were sub-hung from the stage superstructure to give the lighting positions. These were both raked and fanned to optimise the shape of the stage roof and maximise the available height.
An additional guest lighting truss was installed upstage but in front of the video truss holding the three LED columns, and sub-hung below the video truss was another lighting truss that could be moved in and out for the longer and more complex changeovers.
The moving lights consisted of 12 x Robe Pointes, 12 x Robe LEDWash 600s, six Robe 600E Spots, 10 x Martin Atomic strobes and 16 x blinders - a mix of 2, 4 and 8-cell, together with several bars of 4 and 6 PARs. The stage roof was basically rammed with lights.
On the control side, Fineline supplied an Avolites Tiger Touch 2 and a Tiger Touch Pro with a Titan Mobile wing, and the AI server and media content was all triggered from the desks.
The Fineline crew were joined by apprentice Josh King and all worked extremely hard to get everything rigged, ready and programmed in the short get-in period.
Tom Paine from Team Love comments, "It was a great experience working with Fineline. They brought their vast experience to the table and did a really fantastic job with a great looking stage that helped us step everything up a few levels."
(Jim Evans)
