Robe burns bright at Studio 54

17 October 2012

Belgium - Along with the glitz, big hair, outrageous flares and dizzyingly high platform heels 12,000 disco divas stepped out to the 2012 Studio 54 Sportpaleis event in Antwerp, Belgium to strut their best dancefloor moves and grooves to the sounds of the1970s.

The equally flamboyant lighting design for the event - in its 11th glorious year - by Peter Vervloesem - featured all Robe moving lights, which together with other lighting fixtures and equipment and trussing - were supplied by Total-E (Total Event Support) from Paal-Beringen.

Vervloesem also designed the set. His starting point for the show was to create a fabulous, sizzling, mega-kitsch environment full of colour, movement and lusciousness to help emulate the parting spirit of the era and produce a great atmosphere.

No celebration of the seventies would be complete without that classic component of stage décor - the mirror-ball - So the centrepiece of the arena design was a massive chandelier in the roof made up from 400 x 40 cm mirror-balls flown above the stage,

The Robe fixtures were 24 Robin 300E Spots, 28 Robin 600E Spots and 36 LEDWash 600s.

The 300E Spots and the LEDWash 600s were installed on the same four-tiered box-truss structure as the mirror-balls. The top - and widest - section of this was a 12 metre box truss and below this were 9, 6 and 3 metre wide frames. The lights were ideally placed for illuminating the audience and the stage.

The stage set design included a large set of asymmetric cubes mapped with video projection using specially developed software, with a row of material columns at the back.

The event featured a mix of 1970's tribute acts and some Belgian bands of the day still going strong, hosted by DJ Ward from Antwerp's famous 'Red & Blue' nightclub, who cut a stonking set of 1970's disco stompers to the delight of the audience, all of whom were up for a serous night of fun.

Vervloesem used all the different Robe units to the maximum. Every fixture had to be multi-purpose and also keep the pace and momentum pumping relentlessly throughout the whole event.

Lights were operated on the night by Werner Dries using a grandMA console, and Jim Mattheus from ICP-Belgium managed the look and feel of the show, which was . promoted by Patrick Aertsen, CEO of Independent Concerts .

Robe's Benelux distributor Controllux has enjoyed a record breaking year for sales, supplying products throughout the rental and staging market and to a wide variety of installations from classical and jazz to rock live music venues.

(Jim Evans)