Leading
Croatian artists Gibonni & Oliver are on an extensive European tour
campaign supporting their collaborative new album “Familija” (Family) with a
brand new lighting design by Gibonni’s long term LD Sven Ku?ni? based around 88
x Robe moving lights – a combination of Pointes, MMX Spots and MMX WashBeams.
Sven’s
design is adaptable to be able to fit into the wide variety of different venue
sizes on the itinerary. He was given a ‘blank canvas’ by the artists, both of whom
he knowns well. Gibonni and he are in tune when it comes to ideas about
presenting his music live, and he trusts Sven implicitly to imagine and deliver
all the visual aspects which include video.
Sven has
been a keen Robe user for some years. One of his philosophies is that “darkness
is the best lighting effect available” so on this one, video screens are used
in moderation so they augment rather than swamp the detail and complexity of
the lighting, all the time maintaining the slightly mystic character of the
music.
One of
the largest shows so far was the second gig at the Spaladium Arena in Split – Gibonni’s
home town – which generated huge excitement and interest and a clamour for
tickets.
The lighting
rig needed to accommodate some additional elements to deal with the scale and
expectation of the show, and there was absolutely no room left onstage with two
full-scale bands, two large choirs and an abundance of guest artists in a truly
epic performance extravaganza.
Sven
therefore extended the visual experience as much as possible throughout the
venue and into the audience, allowing the artists a closer and more intimate
connection with the 12,000 capacity crowd.
The
general lighting aesthetic is a good mix of drama and dazzling pop lighting
effects, so there was plenty of scope for WOW factors and moody moments.
Twelve of
the 16 x MMX WashBeams were positioned on trusses trimmed at around 20 metres,
so Sven was asking a lot of the lamps because he had to cover around 200 square
metres of stage with these pokey 1200W equivalent fixtures.
They were
complimented by 24 x MMX Spots also rigged on the over stage trusses. “They
performed brilliantly” he declared, “with their stylish gobos, seamless CMY
colour mixing, super-fast zoom they once again proved the perfect choice for
adding lots of theatricality to the show”.
He also utilized
48 x Pointes dotted all over the overhead trusses. Pointes have been his first choice
of multi-purpose fixture on all his riders since debuting them in the Balkan
region on Gibonni’s 2013 arena show in Belgrade, which was shortly after Robe
launched this popular and best-selling fixture.
Sven
knowns the Pointe “by heart” and it’s the only ‘hybrid’ fixture that he has in
his own rental company, Zagreb based LumiLas – which has this year just
completed a transition to offering an all-Robe moving light rental fleet.
He loves
the linear prism and the fast colour wheel and Pointes provide stunning signature
lighting looks for all of Gibonni’s biggest hits when performed as part of the
live show.
The
biggest challenge for lighting all Gibonni shows is being prepared for
spontaneity. Although it is scripted to a degree, the set list sometimes
wanders into the older classic material which everyone still loves, so Sven has
to be constantly on his toes!
The
programming session for the Spaladium show was a gruelling 14 hours. The video
footage was chosen by Sven and VJ Olgierd Kamienski with the latter running
that element of the show.
Talking
about Robe generally, Sven says, “I truly believe that Robe’s R ‘n’ D is
industry leading and the reliability of the products world class”.
When he negotiates
equipment riders for tighter budget shows, he will always propose that it’s
better for organisers and promoters to supply smaller quantities of Robe
fixtures rather than large amounts of copy fixtures or OEM brands.
For the
Spaladium Arena show, all the lighting equipment was supplied by top Croatian
rental company ELDRA who were also the first in the country to invest in large
quantities of Robe’s ROBIN range luminaires.
http://www.robe.cz
Photos
by Sven Kucnic
