Based in Orange, NSW, Centrestate Sound & Lighting frequently provides production for events held all over the glorious countryside of that region. Many of those events are held where the technical infrastructure is somewhat lacking and so battery-powered equipment can be a lifesaver.
With this in mind, Allan Brown, managing director of Centrestate, purchased a case of Prolights Smart BatWash, the high-powered LED wash light that can be operated wirelessly or wired.
“They’re perfect for events such as conferences where they are great for wall washing and lighting up banners,” commented Allan. “They’re IP-rated, wireless DMX, battery-powered and 240-volt power in a road case – you can’t go wrong.”
Allan uses his Prolights Smart BatWash on nearly all of his gigs now including the Trundle Bush Tucker Day 2024 where they were placed on the side of the stage as there was little hanging space.
“The Smart BatWash are great for highlights behind drum kits and side stage wash,” he said. “We just pick them up and move them around on stage to wherever we want them to go. No cable, no nothing. And they’re bright, really bright.
“You can select the hours you want to have them battery-powered. Obviously, setting them at eight hours means they’re not quite as bright. But if you only have them for 3 hours or 4 hours they’re truly bright.”
Allan remarked that his Prolights Smart BatWash complement his ShowPRO Hercules LED battery-powered uplights meaning he has quite an arsenal of cable-free lighting gear to tackle the trickiest of venues or paddocks!
Allan has also added four ShowPRO Blinder II C to his rental inventory. The fixture features a dual LED engine, utilising both Warm White and RGBA modules and boasts over 500W of power, a 2800K to 10000K tuneable white, and full-colour mixing capabilities in a blinder package.
“Our lighting techs prefer to use them than the normal open white ones,” said Allan. “It just gives him a little bit more scope and, of course, colour. They can also be used as a normal uplight or wash light as being LED, they’re not hot like a normal blinder. Their controllability is very useful as each globe in the unit can be a pixel, I suppose you could say.”
The other photographs depict the 80th Anniversary of the Cowra Prisoner of War Breakout held at Cowra Showground Pavilion.
