The Family nightclub in Brisbane is definitely not a nighttime destination to pass up. Dubbed one of the best in the world by Carl Cox himself, Family single handedly threw Brisbane into the dance music scene in Australia and worldwide.
Spread out over four individually styled floors consisting of five unique and luxurious bars, large dance floors, deluxe VIP areas and function spaces, Family’s patrons are immersed in opulent style and smooth sophistication.
Family has had a recent upgrade of lighting that has left Tim Stewart, Sound and Lighting Production Manager, thrilled.
“We’ve revamped the main room lighting rig with eight Martin MAC Vipers, MAC Auras and six Clay Paky B-EYE’s,” he revealed. “For the upstairs dancefloor we have Martin MAC700’s and MAC101’s.”
Four Martin MAC Vipers are situated on the back wall behind the DJ with the other four on the truss above the dancefloor.
“The Vipers are very versatile and have all the features I need such as the CMY colour mixing which is very good,” remarked Tim. “The gobos and zoom are good too – in fact it’s all good!”
The MAC Auras are also positioned in the truss above the dance floor from where they are used mainly for wash.
“They’ve been great, absolutely no problems with them,” said Tim. “They’re nice and wide which means four of them can cover the dancefloor well. I like that I can change the zoom to a nice, tight beam or do a wide wash – makes them very versatile.”
The Clay Paky B-EYE’s were purchased not only because they are awesome lights but because the club wanted something that no other club in Brisbane or Australia had.
“They are so very versatile and suit the club perfectly,” added Tim. “I use them primarily as eye candy placed around the DJ booth facing the audience. Having had them for a few weeks now, I don’t know what I would do without them! They do some really cool beam effects and I use the split colours on the macros a fair bit. I also use them quite a bit as a profile by using the centre two rings together and tightening the zoom up on them. They work really well with the Vipers as the colours match almost perfectly.”
Upstairs, eight MAC700’s are located on a truss over the dance floor whilst most MAC101’s are hung from a lighting bar above the DJ with a few sitting on the DJ booth.
“From there the MAC101’s can deliver a concert-look and they are awesome for that, nice and bright,” commented Tim. “We use an MA ultra-light for control upstairs.”
Tim was very impressed by the service and back up delivered by Show Technology especially from Adam White, QLD Branch Manager.
“Adam went above and beyond in getting us the B-EYE’s,” Tim said. “We ordered them on the 23rd of December and Show Technology commenced their Christmas shut down the next day. However Adam knew I wanted them for our busy Christmas and NYE period so he had them delivered to his house from where I could pick them up on Christmas Eve!”
