England – Chickenstock Music Festival is a 3000-capacity boutique outdoor event which takes place annually in the Kent village of Stockbury, near Sittingbourne. Running across three and a half days in the summer, the Festival features an eclectic mix of acts and has become renowned as ‘Kent’s BIG little festival’. Always sold-out, Chickenstock prides itself on delivering a fantastic atmosphere for its audience, deploying high quality production for both its stages to guarantee a premium audio and visual experience.
Stage lighting on the main stage at Chickenstock is overseen by lighting designer and technical venue manager, Simon Maliphant-Gray, a graduate of Rose Bruford College who has extensive experience in the West End, including working as part of the lighting team on Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Having since transitioned into educational venue management, Simon is now Theatre Manger at Channing School, where he oversees all technical operations and production logistics. As the Festival has grown, Simon, working as a freelancer alongside his colleague Matt Pearson of Astra Sound, has been able to expand the scope of the main stage rig year on year, and for the latest edition deployed Martin Professional’s MAC One Beam fixtures to great effect.
Launched by Martin Professional earlier this year, the MAC One Beam is the newest member of the MAC One family – designed to deliver tight, high-intensity beams and captivating eye-candy effects in a compact, lightweight form. Built for lighting designers and rental professionals, MAC One Beam expands creative possibilities, free from weight, size or budget constraints.
Simon explains the choice: “Every season, I try to bring something new to the stage setup to ensure that each year feels fresh and distinct from the last. As part of that aim, Matt and I annually attend ABTT (Association of British Theatre Technicians) to stay on top of the latest developments in lighting equipment. I’d used MAC One Washes to good effect in the past, so when I saw the MAC One Beams, I knew they’d be fantastic for the main stage.”
Having been impressed with the beam quality at ABTT, Simon wanted to position the units as far back as possible to fully utilise the aerial beam effects as he explains: “I’d already allocated two ladder trusses upstage to hang the battens from, and since I also had a few boom arms available, I decided to out-rig them from the ladder trusses to create a centre cluster. This allowed for striking crossover patterns, while leaving plenty of airspace for dynamic movement.”
With an eclectic, energetic mix of acts supported by stunning production, this year’s Chickenstock once again ticked every box for its enthusiastic audience. For Simon, the MAC One Beam fixtures proved to be an excellent choice and delivered in every respect: “The fixtures are amazingly lightweight and very powerful. The beam intensity from such a compact unit is outstanding – you only need a few to make a real statement in your lighting design. I was particularly impressed with how punchy the beam remained even when using low-transmission colours like deep blues.”
“Another standout feature is their speed, which makes any dynamic effect look smooth and seamless. That speed also helps the units quickly hit pre-fade focus positions, which is always a crucial consideration when running live lighting.”
