Italy - On 5-6 July, Venice landmark Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square) saw Italian pop group Pooh perform the first two shows of their 22-date Amici x Sempre Estate 2024 tour.
Pooh’s longtime lighting designer, Francesco De Cave specified 100 Chauvet Professional Maverick Storm 3 BeamWashes for these shows. Supplied by ZAlight and installed by Agorà, the fully-featured IP65 hybrid fixtures supported the artists on stage, in addition to accenting the beauty of the Doge Palace, Campanile di San Marco, Basilica and other structures that contributed to the scenography at the concert site.
De Cave valued the “power and 'colourimetric' versatility” of the Maverick Storm 3 BeamWash. Using soft shades of richly rendered colours, he was able to endow the piazza’s historic setting with a dramatic element without distracting from the architectural integrity of its buildings.
At times throughout the show, De Cave used monochromatic colour patterns, such as all-reds or all-blues, to create an embracive, immersive effect throughout the piazza that not only enhanced the aesthetics of the surroundings, but also matched the mood of Pooh’s music.
De Cave also changed looks by lighting the setting in different colour combinations, generally limiting his palette to two complementary hues at a time. The tight zoom range of his Maverick Storm 3 hybrids (down to 3.9 degrees) gave him the ability to focus his colourful lighting with precision.
The high output of the fixtures (over 18,500 lumens) made it possible for De Cave to create vivid looks even early in the show, when there was still ambient light in the area. Given Venice’s location in a lagoon, the IP65 rating of the Maverick Storm 3 BeamWash was deeply appreciated. On the nights of the Pooh concerts, though, there was no rain, and the temperature both evenings was a comfortable 28-29°C.
