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Robe funks it up with Bruno Mars

Fri, 19 May 2017 10:44

Photo by Louise Stickland


Seven hundred and ninety five (795) Robe Spikies are on the road with the incredible Bruno Mars 24K Magic world tour – setting a record for the largest number to date of a single type of Robe fixture on one touring show.

The Spikies are the main lighting feature of an action-packed show and are used constantly for hi-impact looks, an array of fluid effects, mesmeric chases, animated chunks of colour and magically twinkling and sparkling ‘soft’ surfaces which can totally transform the appearance of the performance space in this exciting hi- energy show.

The dynamic, colourful and highly visual production design was originated by Leroy Bennett of Seven Design Works, who collaborated closely with a top creative team including lighting designer Cory FitzGerald and lighting director on-the-road Whitney Hoversten.

The worldwide lighting contractor is VER who made the massive investment in Spikies which were delivered by Robe North America.

It is a big and beautifully balanced visual collage of lighting and video – with live (IMAG) video director Steve Fatone cutting the camera mix, combined with eye- catching playback content produced by Empirical Studios.

Bruno Mars himself was integrally involved with the evolution of the stage presentation, and he and his incredibly talented band also provide the final ingredient in this entertaining molten mix of intelligence, fun, wit … coupled with some awesome technology and Imagineering.

The fixture they sought needed to be lightweight enough to be practical on tour … and with that many on the rig and a lengthy itinerary already confirmed, it needed to be robust and reliable.

Three hundred and seventy-five (375) Spikies are built into five upstage columns, and the other 420 are contained in 20 moving over-stage pods, all constructed by TAIT together with the automation systems to move them.

The five back columns are each loaded with a 5 wide and 15 fixtures high matrix of Spikies and the reverse side of the column is covered in an RBG LED ‘lightbox’ panelling material for contrast. They rotate to reveal the different sides throughout the show.

A large LED video screen also flies in at certain points just downstage of the columns, and at times this is lit through with the banks of Spikies, producing another dimension to the stage.

The 20 Queenesque pods over the stage are rigged in a five-wide-four-deep configuration, each loaded with a 7 x 3 Spikie format utilizing 21 fixtures per pod, and these move into a series of different looks throughout the set.

Seven Robe BMFL Spot fixtures are utilized for key lighting all the performers onstage.

A VER lighting crew of 6 is teching and rigging all the kit on the road, crew chiefed by Soline Velazquez. The tour’s production manager is Joel Forman.

24K Magic currently continues to WOW crowds in Europe and opens in the U.S. in July.





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