The Rubens embarked on a six-date launch series to officially share their new album with the masses including a night at Anita’s in Thirroul.
Wollongong’s Pro Sound and Lighting were asked to design and supply the lighting whilst also supplying the PA system.
“We had no brief for the lighting but we knew it had to be big!” commented Steven Farrugia, Pro Sound and Lighting’s Assistant Production Manager. “We believed we needed the flexibility and versatility of a few different lights in the rig to make sure we can capture every moment of the music. Some parts are slow, sombre and mysterious but some parts are also hard-hitting. The music takes the crowd on a huge journey and it’s great to capture and overdose that with lighting.”
Key to the lighting rig was eight Event Lighting M1H420W hybrid moving heads which Steven describes as having a fantastic output and great gobos that he used to his advantage. For more punch and a great fanned look, he had four Event Lighting M1S150 moving head spots.
“The venue’s eight Chauvet DJ Intimidator Spot 255 IRC were put to a new use,” explained Steven. “We knew they needed to come out of the rig and be replaced with ours for this job but I didn’t want them to sit there doing nothing. I ended up sitting them in pairs on each corner of the stage and I really liked the look!”
Eight Event Lighting PARRGBW Parcans were at the back downlighting the curtain whilst four Event Lighting 4x4PANS were used for a colour wash of the stage and did a good job of lighting the musicians at the front.
Four Event Lighting WIP1320 were used as blinders with Steven remarking that they are RGB and crazy bright so help to change the mood up a bit.
Four Phantos MegaWash Zoom heads were used mostly for a fill in to go on top of truss uprights thus creating a great backlight for everyone.
Twelve Molefay Blinders were located at the back of the stage on the truss uprights with Steven saying they are his favourite light.
“The chases we can create with these lights look fantastic and give such a beautiful wow factor,” he added. “Nothing beats the genuine colour of a Molefay. We also three generic blinders on the FOH lighting truss to further blind the crowd.
“I am now a hardcore fan of the Rubens but before this gig, I hadn’t had much time listening to their music. Without a setlist or direction, I listened to two albums straight to gauge the feeling of their music. Our lighting was controlled by the amazing MA Dot2, I knew I had to program it to be able to do what the music felt like at the time. I made sure to have plenty of slow movements with slow chases, but also have something for when it really picks up. My favourite look was going to full blackout but leaving one blinder on behind the vocalist, leaving a dark and eerie feeling with a great silhouette with beams outlining his body. The whole lighting show was done just by feeling.”
Pro Sound and Lighting Anita’s with a Nexo PA system comprising of ten Nexo GEO D10 elements, four Nexo CD18 subwoofers and two Nexo GEO s12 boxes for delays. Foldback was eight FBT Ventis.
Sound design was by Clinton Staggol.
Photos: Tom Healy Photography
