AMF is an integral element of the wider Amsterdam Dance Event conference, a five-day EDM extravaganza staged in the spiritual hub of electronic music and culture. It is a collaboration between organisers Alda Events and ID&T showcasing some of the best EDM talent on the planet.
The Art of Light specified over 500 Robe fixtures across the Amsterdam ArenA, the Ziggo Dome and the Heineken Music Hall, most which were deployed in the Amsterdam ArenA. André and his team also looks after the global creative visual requirements of several leading dance artist including Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Nicky Romero and Afrojack and have been involved with AMF since it started four years ago.
The Amsterdam ArenA operated on Saturday and Sunday nights of the AMF with a festival style set up, and lighting, visuals and set designed to be as flexible as possible. The star-studded line up included all the above three The Art of Light clients plus David Guetta, Axwell & Ingrosso, Alesso, The Chainsmokers, Steve Aoki, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike plus many more.
The ArenA is the largest stadium in the Netherlands and has a transparent retractable roof which can be opened in the summer, so with the AMF action running from 1 p.m. to midnight, nearly half the performances were during daylight hours.
A hard-hitting high impact rig was needed to wow the crowds through day and night, and Robe was chosen as the main moving light brand, with 80 x Robe BMFL Spots, 11 x BMFL Blades, 152 Pointes, 128 x LEDBeam 100s and four LEDWash 600s.
To help combat the daylight, the set designed by 250K included a custom 55m wide by 22m matrix frame covered with pixels which were applied via a special LED strip product. Flown just in front of three upstage video sculptures made from LED screen, this worked brilliantly as eye candy, providing a visual focus and an additional layer on top of the moving lights.
The matrix was built by Invent Design, and its pixels were mapped by The Art of Light team using a Green Hippo media server.
The BMFLs were the main spots on AMF, rigged in a series of trusses above the stage and audience. Eleven BMFL Blades were used for front key lighting. Twenty-two Pointes were positioned above and around each of the four video hoop arches firing out into the crowd, utilising 88 units in total. The 128 LEDBeam 100s were scattered across the LED matrix at the junctions of the connecting pieces creating their own geometry.
Last but not least on the Robe count in Amsterdam ArenA were four LEDWash 600s lighting the DJ booth from the sides. The lighting operators in Amsterdam ArenA were Michael Seeverens and Bas Scheij from The Art of Light, lighting equipment was provided by Phlippo Showlight with video visuals from Eye Supply. Lighting production was by Virtue Projects.
(Jim Evans)
