A very special once in a lifetime concert experience hit Melbourne at the end of November – the legendary and incomparable Leonard Cohen performed live at the iconic and beautiful Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria.
Leonard Cohen performed under the stars at Hanging Rock which also featured three of Australia’s leading artists – Paul Kelly, Clare Bowditch and Dan Sultan presented by Frontier Touring.
To light up the mammoth event it needed a powerful LED lighting fixture to make a visual impact on the rock face that would leave a lasting impression. 6 Robe CitySkape Xtremes were used and positioned within bushland, roughly 50 metres apart to give spread across the rock face. This was a challenge in itself due to the limited vehicle access and thick bushland. The promoter also needed to satisfy the relevant authorities, including parks and fire.
Although the fixtures have 188 LEDs and only 650W each, the Robe CitySkape Xtremes were ideal due to their low power consumption and low heat emission. This meant that power for the project didn’t need to be very large, given that it had to be supplied by generator. It was also a requirement to ensure that the installation worked around the flora, with consideration to nesting fauna. This is the reason the smaller Robe CitySource 96 units were chosen for a specific section, allowing the use of barn-door to light, while still maintaining the colour mixing with the Xtremes.
The Robe CitySkape Xtremes were fitted with 24 degree lenses on the bottom panel and 8 degree on the top, to provide ability to wash the height of the rock-face. The stage was roughly 600metres away, with a large lake/race course between.
Operation was by means of e:cue software running on a standard laptop, giving full battery back-up at control position. The e:cue excite dongle was plugged into a WDMX indoor transmitter and fed to the WDMX micro receivers, which were attached to the lights.
The whole control was carried out from inside a car, parked beneath the rock. The added advantage was the quick control set-up and pack up at the end of each day. A WDMX ugly box, was used to monitor the signal strengths around the precinct.
Needless to say, the entire project ran flawlessly and created the desired backdrop to the fantastic concert, which attracted 15,000 people. Event-goers commented that the rock looked spectacularly haunting, which given the history and folklore of the area, was very-well received.
This was the first-ever event at Hanging Rock, with local residents and government officials admiring the beauty of the rock in a never-before seen light. Frontier Touring did an exceptional job of staging the event, which has been hailed a huge success.
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