From 1886 until 1998 the Three Wise Monkeys public house, a building that is an excellent example of Victorian Italianate Architecture, had always been a bank. It transformed into an entertainment destination in September 2000 in time for the Sydney Olympic Games.
The design is dominated by a curved corner pediment of the Three Wise Monkeys and is heritage listed. Last year the owners decided that the venue required a facelift and consequently a soft-refurbishment including new carpets and wall finishes was carried out. The owners were also keen to change the supplier of their permanent-hire lighting and audio equipment approaching Revolver Audio to do so.
The venue consists of three bars over three levels with the top floor catering for live music every night of the week. The band plays three sets and in between the sets, a Nightlife DJ system is cranked up.
“The owners wanted to bring the venue up to date in terms of lighting and audio,” explained Lee Conlon, managing director of Revolver Audio. “There were some really old moving lights in here previously and they didn’t have the required brightness to make the room fresh.”
In line with many of cities more progressive music venues, Lee was very keen to use LED stage lighting mainly because of the amount of colours an LED system can offer.
”LED fixtures are so much easier than using a fixed white Par Can with gel!” he said. “Let’s face it – the venue has to have a future and the future is LED. It’s an obvious thing to change colour on stage anyway and you get a greater effect for a lot less lights. The ability to colour change gives you so many advantages.”
Lee turned to Show Technology for his LED requirements ordering four Pro Shop LED strips, four Pro Shop LED PAR56, and five Pro Shop LED MultiPAR.
Lee put a lot of effort into the stage lighting; something previous suppliers had tended to let lapse. He found that the use of LED fixtures made the stage look bigger and consequently expanded the size of the room.
“Everybody is amazed at how bright the LED Pars are,” stated Lee. “They’re so bright they shine right out of the windows down onto the street which is a good advertisement for the venue! We’re very happy with them.”
Lee also supplied an array of dance floor lighting including six Martin SCX600, two Martin EFX800 and a Martin Magnum 800 Fog Machine. The Mania SCX600 is an exceptionally powerful scanner that can create a multitude of brilliant effects whilst the Mania EFX800 delivers a broad sweeping flower effect. In fact the light output has an amazing 170 degree spread which rotates and sweeps – wider than any flower effect light in its class, which means you can cover more space with fewer fixtures.
“The Martin Manias haven’t given us any trouble and do everything that they say they do,” commented Lee. “They’re incredibly reliable. In here it gets pretty dusty so we make sure the filters are regularly cleaned to keep them working well.”
The venue employs a lighting operator for five nights of the week whilst Lee supplies one for the other two nights. Maurice Marse is the operator employed by the venue and he is ecstatic with the variations he can now achieve with a LED rig on stage.
“The LEDs have been working very efficiently since they’ve been put in and their effect is amazing,” he said. “They can completely illuminate the room on their own if you want them to. Their capability of switching from one sequence to another is amazing. They deliver a lot more out-come for what you’re operating compared to the old rig.”
www.showtech.com.au
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