As part of the NSW State Government’s Great Southern Nights initiative, the first-ever sit-down Hot Dub Time Machine gig was performed at the State Theatre with a dress code of black tie.
The marketing for this show was very Roaring 20s / Gatsby so Dane Boulton wanted to try and convey that in the lighting design with some classic tungsten and xenon strobe looks. He aimed for the simplistic lighting design to not detract from the beautiful venue or performance from Hot Dub and the many talented guests he had on stage.
“Firstly I wanted to make sure the guest performers were well lit and stood out from the stage, video content and other lighting,” said Dane. “I also wanted the theatre itself and its beautiful proscenium to be a part of the show and lit in some way. Finally agreeing with the artist and promoter that we wanted to have lots of warm tungsten light I wanted some big looks utilizing tungsten fixtures or LED Fixtures that emulate them.”
Anyone who has worked in the state theatre knows the odd shape of the deep stage is perfect for perspective scenery but a little confusing at times on how best to utilize it for a show less traditionally held in a theatre such as this one. It was really important to Dane that Tom and his guests felt close and connected to the audience (albeit greater than 1.5m away) and not buried deep in the stage. For this reason, the decision was made to push the show right out onto the orchestra pit thrust and although Dane was worried going into the show that it would detract, it ended up working great with the beautiful proscenium framing the show and video looking amazing.
Tom has toured for many years with a custom DJ Table and LED Screen setup built by Standby GO In Melbourne. To change the look a bit for this show and minimize the number of cases that came down the dreaded goods hoist, they went for a much more basic DJ Booth with a matte black megadeck table and a custom made DMX LED Neon flex sign. The sign turned out great and looked fantastic glowing on stage during some darker moments. Its’ clear Perspex backboard made it pop out and create some depth.
The lighting rig was supplied by Sydney based Intense Lighting Hire and included Martin Encore Performance CLD used as the main key light.
“These continue to be my favourite for lighting people and things with their great quality of light and most importantly consistency between units,” commented Dane. “Claypaky Axcor 400 Profile and Chauvet R2 Wash were the spots and washes in the overhead and floor packages for gobo, wash, and sidelight. I usually prefer a profile unit for sidelight but chose to use a wash this time as with them nice and wide, they also acted to light the proscenium and give some context to the show revealing the beautiful architecture of the theatre.
“Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes and Nitec Blinders were the FX as I love the look of the classic atomic and no fuss programming. Nitec blinders are I think very close to the look of tungsten and their low power draw means using lots of them!”
Vertically positioned Suntrips lined the back of the stage with Dane using them both for big blinder looks and pixel looks utilizing the bitmap system on the MA Lighting grandMA2 to playback pixel map content.
MDG atmospherics were used with Dane saying he believes they are the best haze on the market and doesn’t suffer from the puffy smoke look of some other machines.
Having worked with the artist for a while, Dane has a master grandMA2 showfile that is cloned into each show he does that has had new programming added over time. This saves him a lot of time in programming and means only updating/adding show specific programming at each event.
“Due to the nature of the show and the dynamic way in which Tom delivers his incredible DJ sets, a cue listed/timecoded show would be very difficult and therefore this show has always been busked,” explained Dane. “I have really enjoyed becoming familiar with how Tom plays and find busking this show a lot of fun.”
A classic Hot Dub moment is a mirror ball blasted with light celebrating the era of classic ’60s and ‘70s Motown, disco, pop and soul. It was extra special at this show with the mirror ball on the front truss, painting the beautiful proscenium and ceiling of the venue in rays of light. It was awesome seeing the audiences head pivot around to take it all in and Dane says it was a great nod to the State Theatre.
Video is a big part of any Hot Dub show. Traditionally on festival stages and in concert shows, an LED screen is used however it was felt that this show really lent itself to rear projection and this also removed the need for any additional rigging in the venue to fly a LED screen. Big Picture Australia supplied a 32K UHD Barco Laser Projector and a large fast fold screen.
“I had not previously seen this projector and was very impressed,” added Dane. “It delivered an incredibly punchy and sharp image that beautifully filled the rear of the stage while not washing out the lighting rig as bright LED screens even run at low brightness often do.”
Dane says the whole experience was incredible and that it was great to be back designing, building and executing a show.
“The Hot Dub team are some of my closest friends and it was fantastic to be back with them doing and celebrating what we love,” he said. “I’m looking forward to when we can do it again with any of our personnel who unfortunately couldn’t make it to this show from around the country and I have to say a big thank you to the great crew and techs who jumped on board to help fill these roles.”
Having not had the chance to wear a suit in a very long time, Dane says it was a lot of fun to get dressed up in one ….. and smear some haze fluid and chain grease all over it for good measure.
AUDIO
Sound engineer Bonnie Knight filled in for Hot Dub Time Machine’s usual engineer Damien Weatherly. Because this show was seated Tom wanted the show to be less loud and more dynamic than he usually would.
Bonnie utilized the in-house PA which is L-Acoustics dV-DOSC with dv-Subs and for control she ran an Avid profile, mixing monitors too.
Ït’’s not necessarily my favourite console of choice but gosh they’re sturdy!” she said. “I also brought a Strymon BigSky Reverb Pedal which I used as one of the reverbs. When mixing this show there’s a bit of chasing because he plays such a wide era of music – with different aural qualities and production.
Tom and the guest vocalists had RF mics, the horns all had wireless DPA 4099s and for guitar, Bonnie used an OPR mod Shure SM57.
For this show, the band used wedges except for the guest vocalists who had IEMs.
Photos: Pat Stevenson
