The band is in the middle of playing four sold-out shows that started in December and conclude in January - following an extensive theatre tour ongoing through most of the year to support their innovative and popular Clouseau Danst (Clouseau Dances) album.
WIcreations is collaborating closely with the show design team from Painting with Light to create some wow factors for the Sportpaleis shows.
These include a moving bridge in the middle of the audience with a 360 degree rotating arm which rises and cantilevers 15m across the audience, allowing Clouseau's charismatic lead singer Koen Wauters to travel just above the heads of the audience to the C and D stage areas.
Twenty-seven of WI's 800 Kg zero speed BGV-C1 hoists are used to automate five large triangular shaped video pods and six moving trusses above the stage.
The first two shows were well received. WI's project manager Hans Willems commented, "We are really proud to be involved in these Clouseau Danst shows. The band always puts in a huge effort and wants the highest production values, so the goal for all involved on creative and technical fronts is to produce a special and entertaining experience that will long be remembered by the fans."
The 15m moving bridge appears in the second half of the marathon show, which features 34 Clouseau hits and favourites - old and new - and lasts over three hours, all delivered with the same pulsating energy and power from start to finish.
The bridge rises up on hydraulic rams, complete with automated handrail making it performance safe, connecting the main catwalk coming out from the stage to the first of three 'B' stage areas out in the audience.
This allows band members to get right amongst the crowds, something in which Koen engages extensively throughout the set, and particularly during this highly interactive and immersive dance orientated show.
Keeping the special effects layers coming, a ballasted cantilevered rotating arm then rises out of the bridge mechanism with a platform on the end, allowing Koen to travel - at approximately a metre a second - in a full 360 degree circle just above the delighted audience.
The hydraulic arm also allows band members to be deposited on and collected from the two other performance areas - C and D stages - in the middle of the arena.
The bridge / hydraulic arm system is supplied by WI complete with fully redundant battery powered hydraulics for backup. "As with all WI products, safety and backup is absolutely paramount," emphasised Hans.
Onstage, 15 of the WI 800Kg zero speed BGV-C1 hoists automate the five video pods above the upstage area - each flown on three motors and moved subtly into a series of different positions throughout the show. This enabled the show design team led by Luc Peumans of Painting with Light to change the architecture and shape of the stage space as the set progresses.
Moving the pods could close it down for the moodier numbers and open it up for the rock-out moments, all helping to keep things dynamic and fresh, with the audience anticipating what might happen next.
An additional 12 of the same WI 800Kg zero speed BGV-C1 hoists - which can move smoothly and seamlessly up to 12 metres a minute thanks to the custom WI controller - are used to move six lighting trusses between the video pods, helping keep the action fluid and looking varied.
The automation cues - for the motors, the bridge and the hydraulic mast - are carefully choreographed into the show - and run via a WI custom controller operated by Chris Das who is joined on site by WI automation technician, Patrik Mangleschots.
(Jim Evans)
