For three days and three nights 135,000 Glastonbury
revellers had the pleasure of seeing their favourite headline acts, lit by some
of the best rock and roll lighting designers in the world, play the famous
Pyramid Stage.
Taking care of the festival house rig was head of
lighting, Andy ‘Fraggle’ Porter, who chose Clay Paky’s extremely bright,
effects-rich Alpha Profile 1500s and Alpha Wash 1500s to deliver dynamic beam
shaping, vibrant colour and super bright effects to the long-running event.
2013’s headlining acts included: The Rolling Stones
lit by Patrick Woodroffe, Arctic Monkeys lit by Andy Watson and Mumford and
Sons lit by Ed Warren. Each put Fraggle’s house rig through its paces and all
made dramatic and creative use of the Alpha 1500 Profiles and Washes. In
addition each designer specified his own additional requirements for Clay Paky
fixtures.
For the main
rig Neg Earth supplied 29 Alpha Profile
1500,
10 Alpha Wash 1500, 20 Sharpy and 10 Sharpy Wash 330. However Rolling Stones
LD Patrick Woodroffe added more Alpha Washes and Profiles and a number of
Sharpy’s to the mix. Rigged at varying levels upstage, the Sharpys provided
razor-sharp architectural backlight that gave depth to the stage for the
audience and television cameras alike. Meanwhile the additional Alpha Washes
and Sharpys were rigged onto a custom Arch Truss to deliver strong key and
feature lighting effects.
The Alpha Profile has an
astonishing 1:9 ratio zoom and can transition between beam angles with
breathtaking speed. It’s also extremely bright and comes with a comprehensive
range of graphic effects. Plus the innovative Stay-Sharp-Zoom makes the Alpha
Profile 1500 a valuable tool for designers who are working in demanding
lighting environments such as festivals.
Complementing the Alpha
Profile was the Alpha Wash, which bought vibrant colour to the stage day and
night. Featuring enhanced optics and a comprehensive colour generation system
it’s extra-wide 11° – 74° zoom range is clean from centre to edge.
As has been the case for many years ‘Fraggle’ was in charge of lighting at the
Pyramid Stage. Working alongside Neg Earth’s account director, Julian Lavender,
and his team of skilled riggers and technicians, Fraggle managed a gruelling
schedule of overnight turnarounds to rig, focus and programme each headlining
act’s bespoke rigs.
“We were aware that the headline acts use the Clay
Paky Alpha Profile and Wash 1500s as part of their standard touring rig”, explains
Fraggle, who had also been crew chief on the Rolling Stones UK and US Shows
last Christmas. “This included the Rolling Stones’ LD Patrick Woodroffe. He has
been using more than 100 Clay Paky fixtures, including 32 Alpha
Profile 1500s, on the ’50 and Counting’
celebratory shows. My job is to ensure
that we can offer the lighting solutions that each designer expects. They don’t
get much time to pre-programme their shows and they prefer to work with the
fixtures that they are used to”.
“We positioned the Alpha Wash 1500s in the house
rig on LX1 and LX 2 to provide the powerful backlight required,” continues
Fraggle. “This was not just for the main acts but also for the bands playing
during the daytime as they needed something that would still have an impact on
the stage and pick out the performers from the backdrops.”
While Patrick Woodroffe
added a number of Alpha Profiles to the front truss and specially built side
trusses, Andy Watson bought in a considerable number of Sharpys to provide
dramatic beams to balance the Arctic Monkeys’ dynamic laser show. “Designers
love the Alpha Profile 1500s for their high output and, with the profile, the
precise framing system,” explains Fraggle. “They are incredibly reliable and
extremely robust, which is an absolute must when you are working in all
weathers, outside! As for the Sharpys – well everyone loves a Sharpy and Andy
Watson used them to great effect to set off his crowd pleasing and very lively
design.”
Not only did Clay Paky fixtures take headline position on the Pyramid
but they were also specified for The Other Stage. Again, Neg Earth supplied the
lighting and crew but here LD Tom Lesh was in charge of the stage: “We chose the Alpha Spot HPE 1500 and
the Alpha Wash 1500 because we know they are good, bright, reliable all round
fixtures,” explains Lesh. “We needed fixtures that read well for the daylight
shows and that would enhance headliners productions. The Clay Paky fixtures
offered incoming designers a solid air package that worked with their floor packages
and could make an impact over and above their visual screens.”
Lesh says that the units, which were
first fired up on Wednesday afternoon were not turned off again until
Sunday night once the festival had finished. “We had absolutely no issues with
any of the fixtures, which I think is impressive considering the environment
they were operating in and the weather we faced – rain and shine, damp and
dust.”
One of Lesh’s favorite features is the stay
sharp zoom function for automatic focusing: “This is especially useful in a
festival situation where we have time constraints and often can’t see
enough in daylight to get a good sharp focus to gobo\’s,” Lesh explains. “I
especially like the fact that you can go from narrow to wide zoom and can still
be sure that it’s going to look good. This was a great feature in this somewhat
challenging situation for myself, and visiting LDs alike.”
“It is a
total thrill to see Clay Paky fixtures used on two such an iconic stages by
such talented lighting designers,” comments Glyn O Donoghue, managing director
of Clay Paky’s UK distributor, Ambersphere Solutions. “We also thank Neg Earth
for the incredible technical support and back up they give Clay Paky products
in the field”.
“Increasingly
we are seeing talented designers push the creative boundaries”, continues O
Donoghue. “However I have to confess, Seeing The Rolling Stones, play
Glastonbury, for the first time ever, under a canopy of Clay Paky fixtures
designed and commanded by Patrick Woodroffe (with additional instruction from
the stage from Mick Jagger) – well, it doesn’t really get better than that does
it?”
Reviewing
the Rolling Stones, who played to a phenomenal 135,000 revellers on the Pyramid
Stage, the Telegraph’s Neil McCormick states that the Rolling Stones “dazzled”
festival goers pulling off \”one of the greatest rock and roll sets that
Glastonbury has ever seen\”.
