Guitar prodigy Plini returned to Australian shores in March in celebration of his EP Mirage.
Lighting designer for the worldwide tour, Luke Thiel turned to Above & Beyond Productions to supply a floor lighting package and a custom-built moon.
“The moon was a custom creation made by our team, designed to be as lightweight and easily transportable as possible,” commented Jade Ollerenshaw of Above & Beyond. “Although it was originally intended for the Australian leg of the tour, Luke was very happy with it and he has since asked us to build a housing in order to transport overseas later this year.”
“The team at Above & Beyond is a pleasure to work with, from the creation of concept, through to the completion of what turned out to be such a great addition to our live show,” added Luke. “The product exceeded expectations and we can’t wait to take it abroad as a continuation of our world tour.”
Moons are present in the imagery for the artist’s music and tie in well with the star cloth backdrop as well as using versatile and beautiful fixtures such as the MAC Aura XIPs owned by Above & Beyond.
In manufacturing the moon, Above & Beyond turned to their in-house team as well as third-party suppliers for raw materials and some machining. A CAD drawing was created by the project manager (Jade in this case) for the build and transport bag.
“We sourced the correct materials including frosted acrylic and a couple of types of wood, which were cut using CNC machinery, then primed and painted,” explained Jade. “Our warehouse team fit out the interior with RGB LED tape around the shape, soldering it within and ensuring it looked clean, before closing. All electronics were enclosed within the back with the appropriate DMX and True1 connectors to suit use across several venues/countries.
“RGB LED strip is a product that varies greatly so we need to ensure we source high-quality product, which is the most suitable for voltage and long wear. It’s controlled via standard 512 DMX protocol, able to be used with any DMX-capable lighting console.”
The floor package included Martin MAC Aura XIP, Acme XA-400 Spot, Elation W350, LED Star Cloth, GLP JDC1, grandMA2 light, and atmospherics.
“A few years ago, we built custom transport racks to pack the equipment so they could set up directly on their transport racks across the back of the stage,” remarked Jade. “The moon was assembled with clamps to a push-up stand on the back for simple rigging.”
@plini (artist)
@declanblakall (photos)
@lukethieldesign https://www.lukethieldesign.com/
@AABPSaust
