Palace
are a much anticipated four piece indie blues rock band from London about which
there’s lots of anticipation and excitement and an acclaimed debut EP, “Lost in
the Night”.
Lighting
designer Steve Bewley – well known for this work with Enter Shikari, London
Grammar, Dizzee Rascal, Tinie Tempah and a string of other interesting alt
artists –- was asked to light a recent showcase gig at the
Electric in Brixton, London, for which he chose to use an all-Robe floor
package which was supplied by Dragonfly Lighting.
The show
came up at short notice, the stage space is limited at the venue and the budget
was expedient, so a good practical solution was needed using fixtures that were
small, light and powerful, and could be ensconced in any gaps and spaces. He
chose eight Robe Spikies, eight LEDWash 300s and eight CycFX 8s which were combined
with elements of the Electric’s overhead house rig.
His
design also included projections from the FOH over the band and onto a backdrop
which brought its own specific texturing treatment to the stage and was very
much in harmony with the space bluesy ambience of some of the music. He worked
on this and the video content creation with Bronski (Chris Jablonski) of
Tawbox.
With a
tight budget, plenty of imagination and original thought was needed to create
something different and memorable. In addition to being pragmatic, Steve thought
that having the primary fixtures on the floor would also work for creating the atmosphere
they wanted.
With everything
on one level – band, backline and the lights, Steve could create big fields of
light and combine them with different Spikie beam looks and effects from the
back. It was the first time he’d used Robe’s Spikies, launched earlier in the
year and proving a big success, which were a recent purchase by Tom Mason at Dragonfly.
The
company was also set up recently to supply the products that were trending and
that LDs are most requesting rather than them having to compromise with what a
rental company might be offering!
Spikies
are a great little light” commented Steve, “For the size, I’m really impressed
with the output”.
He used
the prism effect to create some really excellent states that easily sliced
through the projections, and also managed to tuck the Spikies neatly away
around the sides and back of the risers – hidden from view but highly visible in
effect.
The LEDWash
300s were utilised for side light, so the audience caught glimpses of the band
via smaller fields of light, contrasted with the larger pools of light. They
were also used for silhouetting, which always adds mood and flair to an
intimate show like this.
The CycFX
8s were right at the back of the stage, so using the zoom, he could either
bring them in as powerful backlighting or use them to create weird and
wonderful effects as well as the more standard duties like washing the white
cyc which came to life in blazes of colour.
With this
gig, it was as much about defining the darkness and lowly-lit areas onstage and
juxtaposing them with the lights. Movement was also really important and a
little went a long way! The gig was completely sold out and exceptionally well
received.
Dragonfly
were able to do an extremely good deal on the lights, which Steve also
programmed and ran for the show and his own Green Hippo media server was used
to run the video.
Steve has
been using Robe products in his work around 12 – 15 years know – ever since the
brand first launched in its own right in 2002, a relationship that started when
one of the original rental companies he worked for purchased some ColorWash
250E ATs back in the day! Since then, things have expanded and developed
rapidly for the Czech manufacturer!
“Robe’s come
a long way in a relatively short space of time” he comments, “They have
listened to what people have been asking for, learned, and grown into a top
level company producing a whole range of great products for all applications!”
Palace
are scheduled to be engaging in a lot more live work through 2017 so catch
them when you can and watch this space for the rising stars!
http://www.robe.cz
Photos : Lindsay Cave
