Prljavo Kazalište goes large with Robe
- Details
The final concert was sold out well in advance and 30,000 fans rocked up to be part of his special event for which lighting designer Sven Kučinić from LumiLas LLC specified over 120 Robe moving lights, provided, together with the other lighting production, by Croatian rental company ELDRA.
The band was formed in Zagreb and in 1977 / 78 first stormed onto the raw, bleeding edge of the punk scene there in the then Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was highly symbolic for them to return to the hub of the city and play in the stadium, entertaining fans original and new, some of whom have followed Prljavo Kazalište all the way through the intense geopolitical and cultural changes of the last 40 years.
The band had one major wish for the finale concert, explained Sven, and that was a video concept with large columns of LED surrounding the stage and continuing into the roof space and extending around the sides of the stage structure.
Apart from that, the staging and rigging imagineering was left to Sven, who has worked with the band for seven years and toured the world several times over. On average, they play about 50 shows a year.
Sven in collaboration with the band was also the set designer, and he also undertook much of the general production work which was considerable for a gig of this size and profile! They all wanted a strong, solid industrial look on the stage.
One of Sven’s visual objectives was to ensure there was a nice mix of video and lighting, so the 56 x Robe Pointes were all hung on T-shaped trusses which formed the main set elements in front the large LED columns.
The 30 x MMX WashBeams were used as the main front and side lights, and the 36 x LEDWash 600+s were the primary back lights, rigged on six vertical trusses positioned in between the big LED columns.
“The Pointes were the main and in fact the only effects lights in the show and they worked hard,” said Sven.
He found the MMX WashBeams to be ideal for front key lighting which was crucial as the show was recorded in 4K for future broadcast and DVD.
The LEDWash 600+s were used for striking backlight accents and he maximised some eye-catching strobe macros.
The band’s sound engineer is Davor Smotalic. VJ Ivan Marusic took care of the payback visuals, and the camera and TV recording director was Davor Levicki. The Zagreb stadium show also featured a spectacular 10-unit laser show produced by LumiLas LLC’s Juraj Stipetic and Robert Kirsa.
The 40 Years world tour played venues all around the globe including Australia, the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia.
(Jim Evans)
