HES tours Germany with Andreas Gabalier
- Details
Lighting design team Michael Mayler and Andreas Fink collaborated to create a design that fits the requirements for a huge stadium tour, but simplified for the tight time schedule for building and setup. Part of the plan was to reduce their power needs without sacrificing powerful production looks.
The two turned to High End Systems’ product line and chose 38 SolaHyBeam 2000s, 36 SolaFrame 1500s and 32 Shapeshifters to fit their lighting needs. “When the LED fixtures are off, they are off, not like with discharge lamps which are still drawing power,” Mayler notes.
Two Axon HD Pro media servers equipped the large LED video wall behind Gabalier with visual content. A network of Hog 4 consoles controlled it all.
Production vendor Media Resource Group supplied all the gear, while PreWorks supplied the HES product support.
A standard round stage was the core of the design. Six large lighting Pods created from truss frames each housed SolaHyBeam and SolaFrames, moving to different levels and angles during the show.
The SolaHyBeam was specified for its “high output, very defined beam without a lot of stray light, and its true colours - especially greens and reds,” he says.
Fourteen SolaHyBeams were placed on the back truss for their “bold rays of light” and the other 24 were grouped with SolaFrame 1500 on the Pods. The SolaFrame 1500 was the “perfect match” for the SolaHyBeam, Mayler says, and an additional 12 SolaFrames served as the main key lighting for the band from the side.
Shapeshifters served as special effects fixtures in the two back trusses to provide punch.
With 660 lights to control, Mayler and Fink both operated a network of four Hog consoles. Hog 4 #1 controlled the main Axon media server for video content and all onstage lighting, including pixel mapping for the lighting rig using 48 universes. Hog 4 #2 controlled all audience lighting. The Full Boar was the backup for Hog 4 #1. A Road Hog was used onstage during the day as the setup and tech console. Seven DMX Processor 8000 units, two Hog Fader Wings and two Hog Mini Wings also added speed and options to the team.
(Jim Evans)
