USA – Clay Paky Shotlight Wash fixtures really rock. In fact, they took to the stage for two back-to-back concerts in May: the MMR*B*Q, the annual show from Philadelphia rock radio station 93.3 WMMR where Rob Zombie headlined, and the WRFF-FM Seventh Birthday Show where Foster the People headed the bill.
John Duncan of Pinpoint Lighting, the festival lighting designer for both shows, says the same rig stayed in place for MMR*B*Q and WRFF’s Seventh Birthday Show at the outdoor Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey. Ten Shotlight Washes obtained from Main Light Industries in Wilmington, Delaware were mounted on the downstage truss for the shows.
“The rig’s overall design was a standard festival plot,” he says. “It’s just that every year everyone wants it brighter. So the Shotlight was perfect for this application.”
Clay Paky’s Shotlight Wash combines a 1500W discharge lamp wash light and a 3000W Xenon lamp strobe in one device. The two wash/strobe functions are perfectly integrated and can be operator-controlled with either simultaneous or separate operation and special effects. The strobe function is provided by two semicircular Xenon lamps working independently so they can flash together or separately at different frequencies.
The wash light section features an optical unit with extremely high luminous efficiency; an 11°-74° electronic zoom; an array of filters; a hybrid dimmer; and three-phase pan/tilt motor for perfectly silent operation.
Duncan had previously used Shotlights on an indoor show and found that he could “wash the entire stage with just four of them. They were really bright, and I needed something big, bad and bright for the back-to-back festivals.”
John Bailey, the lighting designer for Rob Zombie, was initially supposed to use another light as a “good front light” for the singer. “But when I heard the Shotlights were going to be used, I was happy. I was very glad to see a bigger lamp. Ten on the downstage truss was more than enough.”
For Rob Zombie’s act Bailey ran four 9×12-foot scrims with images on them around the stage. “It took only two Shotlights to wash all that for me,” he reports. “They were really perfect for this type of thing. My color palette for Rob is very saturated, and these lights mixed them really well. I was also very impressed with the strobes.”
Duncan says the Shotlight Washes performed “excellently” for the duration of both rock concerts. “We didn’t have one problem with them.”
Bailey calls the fixtures “really amazing” and says, “I look forward to using them again.”
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, commented, “The Shotlight’s brightness combined with the innovative effects seemed perfect for this application and I’m glad they could function so well for these great lighting designers.”
A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive North American distributor for Clay Paky.