With its 3,500 capacity, tiered seating and intimate design, The
Myth Live Event Center has earned a well-deserved reputation as a venue that
provides big name artists with an opportunity to connect to fans. Prince
enjoyed performing here; so too have rock icons like Counting Crows and ZZ
Top. Given its history, this suburban St. Paul music hall served as an
ideal setting for a recent concert by Hardwell, the Big House star who elevated
fan-artist connectivity to new heights this summer by creating a first-of-its-kind
Facebook Messenger Bot that gives his 8.5 million followers direct input into
his weekly international radio program.
Ryan
Warffuel and Max Koehler of Antic Studios supported Hardwell’s connectivity to
his Myth Center audience with an expansive video wall and floor package that
featured products from CHAUVET Professional. The pair used the company’s PVP S5
LED panels and a symmetrical array of its Rogue and Q-Wash fixtures to create
an even look across the stage.
“The symmetrical design worked with the configuration of the
stage and the Myth Center,” explained Koehler. “This brought the whole show
closer to everyone, regardless of where they were sitting.”
Anchoring
the show was 16.3’ wide by 9.5’ tall (including the DJ booth) LED video
wall. Created with 84 PVP S5 panels, the wall displayed content
created by Hardwell’s VJ. “Since this was a large wall, we configured the
panels in a standard zig-zag pattern through Chauvet’s Signal
Distributor on stage and linked it to a single VIP Driver at front
of house,” said Koehler. “The thing that really stood out about the panels was
that the colors popped. This was obviously important since the wall was so
dominant in the design. The colors really warmed up the whole venue.”
The floor package Antic Studios brought to the Myth Center
included 12 Rogue R1 Beams, 18 Rogue R2 Washes and 8 Rogue RH1 Hybrids, as well as four Q-Wash
260-LED moving washes and eight discharge strobes. Positioned to create a
balanced look on stage, the moving fixtures were flown on 40’ upstage truss,
arranged on road cases directly below the video wall and placed on the upstage
deck for aerial lighting.
Suspended above the LED wall by two one-ton motors, the 40’
truss had R2 Washes, R1 Beams, RH1 Hybrids and strobes arranged one fixture
after the other in alternating fashion. The same configuration of fixtures was
repeated on the road cases below the wall. The downstage deck had two R1 Beams and two RH1 Hybrids on either side of the DJ booth.
For key lighting, Warffuel and Koehler used the four Q-Wash fixtures suspended
on motors over downstage.
This
symmetrical lighting arrangement created a cohesive visual presentation on the
21.5’ wide by 18 deep stage. Moving in unison with every cushiony drop,
Prydz Snare and sweet synth, the moving lights worked in harmony with the large
video wall to pull the crowd ever deeper into Hardwell’s performance. It was
the type of connection that the artist and his fans both thrive on, and it was
very much in evidence at The Myth Live Event Center.
http://www.chauvetprofessional.com
