During the COVID-19 crisis, venues, crew, musos and anyone involved in the events industry have been deadly quiet. Harry the hirer Productions have teamed up with the Hand Shake Agency and the Victorian and NSW state government to bring some live music, comedy and mental health advice to masses via the internet on a show called Delivered Live. The show which originally started as a once-off streaming festival has now grown into a weekly variety program recorded out of Harry the hirer’s purpose-built web streaming studios in Melbourne and Sydney.
Delivered Live is produced under strict social distancing rules with numbers in the 250 square metre studio limited to 10 at a time, all crew wear PPE and the stage space is even divided up so that each artist onstage has their own four-metre square area delineated by LED tubes. Each performer gets their own sanitised mic and puts on their own windsock to prevent any potential transmission. Delivered Live gives much-needed work and money to crew and artists, whilst the stream is free to view live on a Saturday or repeated on a Sunday. The audience is encouraged to buy a ‘ticket’ to the show equivalent to the cost of a similar live gig, this money is then divided up between the crew, performers and each performer also nominate their favourite venue and someone from their road crew who receive a percentage of the money.
Marcus Pugh has stepped out from behind the office desk and behind the lighting console to play LD and Op on the show, “I have relished the opportunity to play with all of the great kit we have here at Harry’s and switch the rig up each week,” commented Marcus. “This week the majority of the lighting was Showtools equipment, I used our new
CHAUVET Professional Ovation E-910FC Profiles to give a tight colour mixing front light with the CHAUVET Professional Maverick MK2 Profiles for beams and gobos. Also used was the ever-popular Corona Retros providing eye candy and punch from the side of the frame. Not to mention the fact that the whole rig in the studio is built out of Eurotruss trussing and the staging is Nivtec stage.”
“All of the kit looked great on camera with warm pastel tones for the opening act Didirri, the show then moved into some folk with crowd favourite Mick Thomas ex-frontman for Weddings Parties Anything. The night then got its rock on with headliners Kingswood giving the opportunity for more vibrant colours and stabs of white and beam movement through the sir.”
Talking about the night Marcus said, “Those Retros have so much kick and can do a lot for a static fixture, I really had to watch my output levels because they’re so damn bright especially in a studio environment but they also sit nicely in the background as a coloured ring or using the centre ‘globe’ like a tungsten fixture or a spinning coloured fan effect.” When discussing the Chauvet Maverick MK2 Profiles, Marcus commented “These are a seriously underrated fixture, the colour mix works a treat with the ability to drop a colour flag over the top. I used a few from the front truss to frame upfront light when singers moved away from their mic position lit by the Ovations to play at the keyboard. I was also able to get some subtle coloured beam work into the top and bottom of the frame for the slower acts and then kick them into top gear for the rock numbers and start to introduce gobo movement and white flashes. We were able to put some smooth movement into the lighting and the gobo selection is very versatile, I usually use these fixtures for theatre and corporate applications but they were at home in this rock environment.”
Showtools has maintained a strong supportive relationship with Simon Finlayson and the Harry’s Productions team for many years with plenty of after-sales service and support for their truss, stage and lights.
