This year, for the 26th year that the Parkes Elvis Festival has been running the festival celebrates the 50 years since Elvis made his unforgettable and iconic TV show, ‘The 68 Comeback Special’ which was arguably one of his best performances. The town of Parkes NSW came alive in early January for various shows to coincide with Elvis’ birthday and, featuring tribute artist direct from the UK – Ben Thompson, with four special performances at the Parkes Leagues club. In addition, there were other various shows and performances that were held throughout the town as part of larger celebrations throughout Parkes.
For such a special festival celebrating an icon like Elvis, Pristine Productions from Griffith were hired to look after production lead by Managing Director Mark Macedone with John Matkovic the lighting designer. Both Pristine Productions and John Matkovic oversaw production for the four performances at the Leagues club as well as another eight which included Elvis tribute competitions, a Beatles show and the Ultimates show. To equip the events at the leagues club with the proper lighting, trussing and staging equipment, Mark Macedone and John Matkovic decided to use CHAUVET Professional lighting, Eurotruss Trussing and Nivtec Staging supplied by Showtools International.
The lighting rig included:
Rogue R1 spot x 6
Rogue R2 wash x 6
COLORdash Par-Quad 18 x 5
COLORdash Par-Quad 7 x 8
COLORdash Par-Hex 7 x 8
COLORdash Batten Quad 6 x 16
After having great success using the CHAUVET Professional range of fixtures as technical operations coordinator for the Griffith Regional Theatre on various shows, it was easy for John to again trust the fixtures for a show like this, “I have been using the CHAUVET Professional range for a while now and the brand always delivers on performance, innovation and reliability.”
The Rogue R1 spot and R2 Wash were used to create maximum dimension for the show with the fixtures across the stage to provide bright and punchy looks, in addition to the gobo effects allowing John great design options. The sharpness, output, as well as colour and aerial effects of the R1 Spots highlighted creating a great look to the Elvis performance throughout each of the shows. The R2 Wash provided 5 zones of LED control for pixel mapping control, unique lens design for excellent color blending and the zoom that could cover the stage.
The COLORdash fixtures were used for general colour wash of the stage. The COLORdash Par-Quad 18 and Quad 7 were positioned behind the performers for a back wash while the COLORdash Par-Hex 7 added brightness and intensity that produced a rainbow of deeply saturated colours, “The Par-Hex 7 was ideal for a concert like this, as it is both lightweight and provides a great saturation of colours,” stated John.
The combination of the Rogue R2 Wash and COLORdash Batten-Quad 6 fixtures delivered an incredible mix of saturated wide spread and linear wash lighting to provide exceptional visual consistency throughout the event,” commented John. “Working in tandem with the Rogue R1 Spot fixtures, they gave us an ideal blend of colour mixing and movement we needed to create a lively, invigorating atmosphere for the king of rock and roll, hanging off the highly trusted Eurotruss HD34 square truss with its 3mm wall thickness and quick conical connection system”
In addition, the bands drum set was put on the Nivtec Staging Module. The Nivtec staging modules were installed for its ease of use, the effective Nivtec hook on system provides strength with a high load capacity as well as providing a quick assembly process. These factors made Nivtec the best solution for staging in addition to being secure and safe.
With over 12 shows through a 5-day period, both Pristine Productions and John Matkovic played a huge part in making the shows at the Leagues Club a huge success with sold out shows, thanks in large part to the implementation of the CHAUVET Professional lighting fixtures, Eurotruss Trussing and Nivtec Staging.
