Auckland Live is a busy umbrella organisation running all the live performance venues in New Zealand’s largest performing arts and convention centre complex right in the heart of the city.
Their existing stock of Robe moving lights is now boosted with the addition of 44 new LED moving lights – 12 x DL4S Profiles and 32 x LEDWash 800s.
Head of lighting Malcolm Ibel has been using Robe moving lights increasingly in his work in recent years, and Auckland Live initially invested in the MMX Series with the purchase of 12 x MMX Spots and 12 x MMX WashBeams.
Having been extremely happy with the performance of these and what they brought to lighting the various venues and shows, they had a solid basis for the decision to go with the latest purchase.
The DL4S Profile was selected for its finesse and elegance as a theatrical luminaire – compact size, light weight, good zoom, superior colour mixing including great whites and high CRI for good flesh tones, plus super-smooth dimming and shutter blades.
The LEDWash 800s were also chosen for their excellent colours and ability to reproduce the intricate pastel ranges as well as all the bold primaries and secondaries, and as a general solid and dependable all-purpose fixture.
Like the MMXs, the new fixtures will be deployed across the various Auckland Live venues, and were also delivered by Robe’s Australian and New Zealand distributor the ULA Group and their local representative, Lighting Supply Company, with whom Malcolm enjoys an excellent relationship.
The Auckland Live venues includes the historic Auckland Town Hall, a well-known 1600 capacity concert hall; the Aotea Centre with 12 different spaces and home to the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra; The Civic Theatre, a highly atmospheric 3000 seater Art Deco architectural masterpiece; and Aotea Square, a public space nestling between all these venues, as well as the Viaduct Event Centre and the Bruce Mason Centre on Auckland’s north shore.
Malcolm’s association with Auckland Live (previously known as The Edge) actually goes back to 1991 when the Aotea Centre opened in the city centre. He returned full time 11 years ago after freelancing and working internationally lighting many different shows and tours.
He started specifying Robe products a few years back for certain special events, for which they were hired in, which led to him recommending that Auckland Live start investing in their own set of moving lights. The move was approached with trepidation, as up until that point they had traditionally lit most of their own productions with conventionals.
“The Robe kit is properly innovative – it’s not just a reinvention of something that has gone before … with every generation of product development new technology is used and optimised,” says Malcolm.
Being run by Auckland City Council, a commitment to having the right ‘green’ credentials is also important, and “Robe are bang-on” in this context he says.
Getting units that were properly ‘multi-functional’ was another consideration. He needed fixtures that could be used to light a drama or a dance performance and also do some raucous rock ‘n’ roll shows.
