There is no event that better encapsulates the great West Australian lifestyle quite like the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival. In 2010 the Blues ’n’ Roots moved to its spectacular new home, Fremantle Park where headlining this years’ festivities was Crowded House who are about to release a new album and begin a world tour.
Dave Harding has been operating their lights for many years and the festival gave him the opportunity to use the Martin LC Plus Series of modular LED video panels with new generation technology that closely integrates light, video and set design.
“The LC Plus panels were a lot of fun and I think that they’re really nice,” commented Dave. “It was the first time that we’d used video with Crowded House as they tend not to lean that way. I used a range of visuals from custom material provided by the video people who are doing the next Crowded House video clip – they did some really nice arty stuff which the band prefer rather than home movies, if you know what I mean.”
Dave used a total of sixteen LC Plus panels, supplied by Concert & Corporate Productions, which he described as really crisp and bright.
“They are seriously bright!” he remarked. “I ran them at only 12% to get a balance between the system and the LC Panels because at 100% they just blew everything away! It didn’t matter how much light you had in the room you wouldn’t match the LC Panels.”
The LC Plus panels differ from the original Martin LC panels in several ways. Firstly they have a different control system that allows greater flexibility in the way that they can be positioned. Previously the LC Panels could only be hung in a vertical rectangular but with the LC Plus the panels can be hung in a variety of ways – such as diagonally – and the controller adapts accordingly. The LC Plus panels are IP65 rated so they are suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications. In fact a true IP65 protection rating and wide operating temperature range of -20° to +40° C means the LC Plus is suitable for most types of outdoor entertainment including permanent installations such as theme parks, cruise ships or other outdoor areas.
The LC Plus panels are connected using Martin’s proprietary P3-100 system based on Gigabit Ethernet technology. This ensures reliable operation as well as continuous status monitoring of the panels.
”I love the new LC Plus panels and the P3 is an awesome processor; it’s just so easy to use and makes everything very simple,” added Sean McKernan, CCP’s Production Manager. “With the panels having Cat5 on them the set up is a breeze – quick, simple and it works first time. Addressing is simple too – in fact there’s nothing hard about them! They just plug in and they work.”
Concert & Corporate Productions also supplied sixteen Martin MAC700 profiles, eight MAC 700 washes, sixteen MAC600 profiles, eight Atomic Strobes and Unique hazers.
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