Netherlands: Over 27,000 ‘Hardstyle’ dance fans partied the night away under the beat-locking beams of the Clay Paky Sharpy and Sharpy Wash during Dutch mega-rave night ‘Hard Bass’ in Arnhem’s Gelredome.
Marc Verhoeven of Dutch dance event organiser b2s worked in co-operation with Rudy Vorstenbosch of 4AV Technical Productions to create an outer-space themed lighting design to compliment the night’s overall concept of ‘Exploration’. B2s and 4AV called upon Utrecht-based lighting specialists tenfeet, who directed and programmed the night’s out-of-this world lighting design.
Moving light programmer and operator for tenfeet, Remco Angenent explains: “The brief for this project came from the stage designers of b2s. They put together a clean white design that evoked the interior of a spaceship to fit in with the wider night’s theme of ‘Exploration’. In total we used 68 x Sharpys and 74 x Sharpy Washes, all supplied by Dutch hire outfit Rent-All.”
A number of Sharpys were rigged on arrow shaped trusses above the audience. The Sharpys behaviour was then time-coded in sync with industrial-sounding audio effects, which all colluded to deliver an immersive, out-of-this-world experience.
“The Sharpys’ high output and rapid PAN and TILT movements ensure that they are ideal for creating the sharp, high-tech look we were after,” explains Angenent. “Compared to other low power lighting fixtures, the Sharpy and Sharpy Wash really held their own alongside the night’s other effects – they really were in their element!”
The ‘Hardstyle’ dance night is traditionally split into four main sections each led by a team of world-famous DJs. Each section is named after a colour and is supported by large amounts of visual effects such as pyro, video and laser shows.
“To mark the special lighting moments during the DJ intros and to save time my colleague Robbert Jan Vernooy and I pre-programmed the show’s various elements in our previz-studio in Utrecht,” continues Angenent. “Five arrays of eight Sharpys were rigged in-front side of the stage and on the arrow-shaped trusses and also above the audience on the top and bottom of the arrow shaped trusses. There were also 26 Sharpy Wash fixtures behind the stage’s large translucent projection screen, which gave an additional layer of depth and colour. Furthermore arrays of 16 Sharpy Wash fixtures were rigged at the far left and right of the stage, to sculpt the stage and throw big looks out to the audience.”
2014 saw Hard Bass celebrate its 11th year as a popular hard-style dance event with MC, DV8, on hand to introduce the various sections of the night. Held annually at Arnhems Gelredome, the world’s first multi-event location featuring a retractable football field, over one-million visitors pass through the venue’s doors each year.
For more information on b2s and upcoming events please visit http://www.b2s.nl
For more information on tenfeet http://www.tenfeet.eu