Slovenia - Singer-songwriter Nina Pušlar played a major sold-out show in Ljubljana’s 14,400-capacity Stožice Arena which was recorded for broadcast on national TV and celebrated the release of new music from Nina, for which her team including creative director Anže Škrube wanted a spectacular production.
Lighting designer Amadej Šuperger from design studio Blackout specified large quantities of Robe moving lights which made up 75% of the lighting. The positions were facilitated by an angled triangular truss in the centre with four bracing trusses flanked by raked grids of crisscrossing trusses in the roof above the stage, which brought a structural look and industrial tone to the performance area. It also amplified the depth of the performance space.
Amadej has been working with the artist for some time. He already had a show designed for smaller venues which served as a basic starting point for this one, but Stožice required a completely new concept and an approach that was much bigger than anything that had gone before. This was both to fit the occasion and the expansive space of the arena, which is a challenging space for rigging production.
“I wanted it to look impressive even without any lights turned on, hence the geometry, style and look of the metalwork,” explained Amadej.
Another factor around which the lighting evolved was a substantial upstage LED screen and two side LED screens which meant an emphasis on top lighting to leave clear sightlines, especially to the screen at the back.
He collaborated closely with VJ Rasta – who produces all the playback content – on this aspect of the design. The 20-camera shoot was directed by Nik Gradišnik and Anže Škrube.
When it came to populating the lighting fixtures, Amadej used 36 x Robe Fortes including two which were on two RoboSpot systems for key and back lighting. The RoboSpot operators were off to the sides of the stage.
He added 28 x MegaPointes to this, 42 x Spiider wash beams, 40 x LEDBeam 150s, 26 x CycFX8s and eight PATT2013s, plus strobes, blinders, and fog machines, all supplied by busy Slovenian rental company Event Lighting.
Eleven of the Fortes were used for front light and keys, with the other 25 rigged along at the back of the trussing grid and filling in the main triangle piece, ideally positioned for outlining, silhouetting and rear beam work. The key lighting was programmed by Amandej’s Blackout colleague Crt Birsa – also an LD in his own right – and was run live as dancers and guests came and went during the action-packed show.
The main objective of the show was to present a “big, bold, modern, mainstream pop, glossy-floor pop fill of colour, life and excitement to get Nina’s fans on their feet, moving and grooving,” stated Amadej.
