Brisbane’s Family Nightclub is one of Australia’s largest and most enduring nightclubs spread out over four floors and five bars, including one made completely of ice. It has been host to some of the biggest names and best DJs, from DJ Tiesto to Paul Van Dyk and Deepdish.
The venue regularly reinvents itself in order to keep on top of the city’s club scene and the latest transformation saw a brand new lighting system installed courtesy of Josh Frey Productions, the club’s preferred lighting installer.
Production Manager David Fairless was delighted to receive an all Martin lighting package consisting of eight MAC700 profiles, eight MAC101 LED moving head wash lights and four MAC Aura compact LED moving head wash lights with zoom.
Every three months or so, David changes the lighting set up but currently there are two circular trusses above the dance floor; the outside ring holds the eight MAC700 profiles whilst the inside ring holds the MAC101 fixtures.
“All of these fixtures together create a perfect look for the club and whatever design I have them in, I am never disappointed,” remarked David. “I haven’t had any problems with the fixtures since purchase and only give them a quick clean over every month as the dust that accumulates in that room is stupid. All fixtures have performed above the standards I originally had set for them.”
The backbone of any nightclub rig are the main spot lights in this case David decided on the MAC700 profile as – according to him – it provides a good contrast to the LED fixtures with great shutter functions, excellent colour mixing possibilities and a very accurate pan/tilt and iris movement.
David reports that he has been amazed by the MAC101 LED fixtures citing their speed, cool effects and low purchase cost as irresistible.
“The Martin 101’s are fast and very accurate lights,” added David. “They allow me to achieve movements that I would not be able to do with other fixtures. They are compact and allow me to be very creative with the movements, colour changing abilities and shutter effects that they provide.”
The MAC Auras are currently positioned on stage, two above the DJ suspended from the truss system that also supports the LED screen acting as a backdrop, and two either side of the DJ placed upon speakers.
“The Aura’s have a wide range of inbuilt effects which allow for a variety of theatrics,” David said. “For example, the two layers of colour you can have while incorporating rapid iris movement really puts the Martin Aura ahead of other LED washes. As a wash light, the lumen output really surprised me how well it lit the room.”
For control David uses a grandMA ultra-light console which he describes as simple to use, quick and basically it does everything that he wants it to do!
“The grandMA ultra-light is perfect for a club environment where you have an operator present,” he said. “Its functionality for live operating is what really stands out and has made programming and operating the desk a much easier transition from my old set up.”
David is currently working on his next lighting set up planning to have the fixtures spread over the back wall in between pieces of the LED wall.
Photos: Alex Singleton www.axlimaginging.com.au
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