Avolites\’ world-class lighting and video control
solutions provided an integral part of this year\’s Glastonbury Festival, with
representation on sites including the Pyramid Stage, Other Stage, John Peel
Stage, Silver Hayes and the mighty Arcadia.
An Avolites team of fifteen was on-site to liaise,
support and connect with the many talented industry professionals working on
the festival, further strengthening Avolites\’ association with the festival.
The Avolites equipment included consoles, dimmers and
media servers being used across the festival site, highlighting the power,
versatility and connectivity of the company\’s product range.
Saturday headliner Kanye West drew plenty of comment
before the festival began, but after his appearance, it was the lighting that
was the talk of the town for the enigmatic \’All of the Lights\’ rapper. Powered
by 16 Avolites ART2000 dimmers and two Powercubes, Kanye\’s Pyramid Stage
performance was lit by a simply massive 792 par cans. Supply and rigging came
from ELP.
Also on the Pyramid, John Barker brought along his
trusted Tiger Touch Pro console, which he used to control the floor packages
for the fantastic George Ezra.
Nearby, on the Other Stage, Shaun Moore of Nitelites
utilised a Tiger Touch II to control the lights for Frank Turner\’s hugely
popular set that got the crowd dancing, before Ben Howard took to the stage
with Andy Rowe at front of house, using an Expert Pro and Wing to illuminate
the Other Stage as the evening sun set.
Moving to the former Jazz stage West Holts, two 48-way
ART2000 dimmers powered the generics for the stage that featured artists such
as George Clinton, Hot Chip, and Flying Lotus. The dimmers were supplied by
DPL.
There was plenty of Avolites action in the John Peel
tent, with Ben Vaughan operating the media for rising indie-electro stars Years
& Years. Vaughan, of Light Initiative, designed a stunning pixel mapped
show using their custom made LED flex screen, designed to take the form of the
band\’s logo.
Also on John Peel, Andy Liddle used a Tiger Touch II to
control a dynamic light show for La Roux – while Francis Clegg used Avolites\’
fully featured, compact console the Quartz to control the lights for energetic
punk two-piece Slaves. Their set, one of the highlights of the festival, drew a
boisterous crowd that the huge tent couldn\’t contain. Clegg operated on behalf
of MIRRAD.
2014 was a huge year for the team behind the Arcadia
stage but this year they turned it up to another level with the incredible new
\’Metamorphosis\’ show. The returning spider was this time accompanied by three
web-walking mini-spiders, the Lords of Lightning, and some amazing new Ai
powered costumes and zorbing balls, created by Light Initiative – for an
enthralling 30 minute show of fire-powered action, before the guest DJs kept
the rave going well into the night.
Tim Smith of Smash Productions once again oversaw the
visual proceedings, evolving the lighting for the spider in conjunction with
Colour Sound Experiment. Rachel Moule took control as lighting designer for the
spectacular stage with support from Dave Cohen of MIRRAD, both operating from
Avolites flagship Sapphire Touch consoles.
The stunning media content, that was projected onto the
body of the spider was created and controlled by Tom Wall of blinkinLAB from a
Sapphire Media console, while the LED panels were provided and installed by
Video Illusions. Avolites\’ Selvin Cooper mapped and supported the video
projection for Arcadia, with the 6 projectors he used provided by CPL.
Avolites products were selected by Alan King of Rockin\’
Horse for a number of festival areas, including the three venues that make up
The Common. Avolites\’ Arran Rothwell-Eyre took charge of visuals at the Temple,
as media server technician for the stage.
Controlling four Ai S8 media servers from a Quartz
console, Temple featured amazing projection-mapped visuals across 16 outputs
for a total surround, including the elaborate DJ booth.
Rothwell-Eyre also worked alongside Dan Shorten, a tutor
from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as a group of first and
second year students also from the college. The students assisted in all
aspects of the production, including mapping, operation, content creation,
installation and rigging.
Also in the Common, The Cave, complete with crashing
waterfalls, was controlled by Julian Weare who was using a Quartz console plus
wing, with a Titan Mobile for backup. The Rum Shack also had a Quartz console,
with a number of operators stepping up to operate at the lively bar.
Avolites control was also to be found at the ever-popular
Block 9 nightspot London Underground, a run-down apartment block adorned with a
crashed London tube train teetering out of its façade. The venue, reliably
blasting the best electronic music, was lit using an Avolites Tiger Touch II
and Fader Wing, operated by Jonny Godsmark.
Fineline Lighting, which has been closely involved with
Glastonbury over the last 24 years, supplied lighting equipment including a
wealth of Avolites consoles and dimming racks for the Acoustic, Astrolabe
Theatre, Cabaret and Circus venues, as well as Silver Hayes\’ Wow Stage. Designed by Rob Sangwell and Stuart England, the
Acoustic stage featured performers such as The Proclaimers and the Moody Blues,
with control coming from an Avolites Tiger Touch II plus wing, and ART2000
dimmers powering the generics.
The Astrolabe Theatre featured a line-up of performers
spanning dance and physical theatre. Lighting was handled by Hal Himsworth,
with a Pearl Expert Pro providing control, plus ART2000 dimming throughout.
Dimmers were also used in the Cabaret tent with Wingnut controlling lighting. The high-flying acrobatics of the Circus stage were
operated by James Louden on a Sapphire Touch console with ART dimming.
Towards the Northern tip of the festival site, Paul De
Villiers was in charge of the Silver Hayes dance area\’s main stage, Sonic,
where he operated a Tiger Touch II and wing. Also guesting on the stage was
Stephen Abbiss, lighting designer for Idris Elba and Roni Size, who both
performed on the stage.
Abbiss had a particularly busy Saturday, lighting for
these two acts before heading over for Fatboy Slim\’s raucous headline set on
Brazilian favela inspired stage The Blues.
Also in the dance area, an Expert, controlled by Matt
Spencer, graced La Pussy Parlure, while A1 Events supplied a Tiger Touch II to
The Gully, with Paul Wiltshire and Nick Szerencses taking control. Finally in
Silver Hayes, the WOW stage, which was regularly spilling over thanks to the
extent of DJ talent on show, was controlled by James Harrington, with ART
dimming distributing the power.
LD for Public Service Broadcasting, Dom Adams used an
Expert to control the lights on Glade stage, nestled amongst the trees, with
James Dickson also running lights for pyro-circus performers Slamboree on the
stage, after also performing on Shangri-La\’s Hell Stage.
Also in Shangri La, the jagged, many-surfaced Heaven
stage was this year expertly projection mapped by Nick Diacre, who accomplished
the complex feat using two Ai S8 media servers provided by XL Video.
The art installations all over the site, designed by Joe
Rush, who also designed the frontages of the Pyramid and Other stages, were lit
by Nick Rominini and Christian Smith, using Titan Mobiles.
\”It is wonderful to continue our close association
with Glastonbury Festival,\” says Avolites MD Steve Warren. \”With so
many areas and artists trusting their shows to Avolites\’ fantastic products, we
really wanted to be able to catch their performances and share in their
excitement. Glastonbury provides the perfect opportunity to do this.
The dedication and enthusiasm of the Avolites team
was paramount to our successes this year, and we are proud of their efforts in
servicing and supporting the companies and individuals that made this great
festival happen.
\”It was particularly exciting to see the increased
prominence of video at this year\’s Glastonbury. The fantastic work of Nick at
Heaven Stage, Arran at The Temple, Light Initiative, and the ever-impressive
Arcadia team, proves the power of Ai. Next year we hope to show the world even
more lighting and video integration!\” Warren concludes.
