The Revesby Workers’ Club in south-west Sydney is a regular stop for premiere touring acts. Its concert venue, the Whitlam Theatre, seats 750 in ‘dinner mode’ and 1400 in theatre mode. The theatre is known for its big PA and excellent audio facilities, but, until recently, its lighting systems were struggling to keep up with the demands of modern touring acts. Happily, Revesby has changed all that with the purchase of High End System’s flagship Hog 4 console plus a Playback Wing 4, bringing their venue back in line with the best in Australia.
The Hog 4 replaces a lighting desk known and loved by an entire generation of lighting operators – a JandsHog 600, first released in 1996! Obviously way past its use-by-date, the JandsHog 600 will still be missed. “It uses floppy discs,” points out Phill Webb, Revesby’s Audio Visual Coordinator, “and obviously that’s not supported anymore! As you can see, it’s not often we get the chance to upgrade, so when we do, we invest in the best we can get. That’s why we went for the Hog 4. From our perspective, it was not only important that our regular operators like the platform, but also that we had something rider-friendly.”
Scott Masters, Customer Service Manager at consultants and integrators Saltec has worked closely with Revesby over the last few years to keep their facilities current for touring acts. “We’ve been doing some work in the auditorium to get them up to speed,” reports Scott. “The club is very serious about providing first-class services to their customers and the room was at risk of failing to meet this commitment. We started with a few infrastructure upgrades, a little lighting system work, some projection improvements, and then converting their audio to digital. With all the new LED lighting fixtures in use, they needed to look at the standard f
or touring acts. We went down the Hog path, because most of the touring artists coming through are set up for Hog.”
It’s not just industry acceptance that drove the decision. “Our other argument for getting a new console is that the venue has 120 channels of dimmers and not one LED fixture,” explains Phill Webb. “We’ve got great dimming infrastructure but poor DMX infrastructure, so that’s got to be our next step. We talked to the financial staff at the club and told them we could save a lot of money by getting rid of the traditional fixtures and installing LEDs, explaining that by doing so, the fixtures use a lot less power and we’d be running the air conditioning a lot less. They liked that idea!”
With its two massive touchscreens, extensive channels and universes, pixel mapping capabilities and vast capacities for physical expansion via USB and Ethernet, the Hog 4 has future-proofed the Revesby Workers’ Club. The addition of the Payback Wing 4 expands the number of motorised faders in the system to twenty plus two masters, and adds another 15.6 inch touchscreen. “A lot of our shows involve busking,” continued Phill. “We like more faders, and tend to throw everything to a fader and run the show that way.”
Australian High End Systems distributor Lexair Entertainment are key to Revesby and Saltec’s peace-of-mind. “Lexair have been really helpful,” relates Scott Masters. “They’ve done everything they could possibly do to support this sale. They’re always there when we need to ask technical questions or need to follow-up on bits and pieces. I would recommend Lexair for anyone looking to purchase.”
