England and Wales – An array of Clay Paky fixtures were selected by leading Manchester-based technical supplier Audile to provide extraordinary stage lighting for two of this summer’s more alternative festivals; the inaugural Bluedot ‘festival of discovery’ and boutique arts and music experience Festival No.6.
Held at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire underneath the famous Lovell telescope and debuting this year, Bluedot offers a three-day programme of music, art and culture, flavoured with science and space exploration.
Audile supplied Clay Paky luminaires and technical support to each of Bluedot’s five stages. Company directors Rob Leach and Rob Ashworth chose the award-winning Mythos, Stormy CC strobe and festival lighting staple the Sharpy for the Main stage, where headliners Jean Michel Jarre, Underworld and Caribou performed.
“The Mythos is highly versatile which is important for designers coming in to deliver a specific show,” explains Leach. “The fixture is able to deliver a punchy output against LED screens or in daytime ambient light conditions and the wide zoom down to very tight beam mode is impressive. The Stormy CC has been a very reliable LED strobe for the past two festival seasons – we are yet to swap one out even in the challenging onsite conditions of the British summer! Last but not least the Sharpy is a classic unit and using it alongside the Mythos is a great combination for us.”
The dish of the Lovell telescope at Bluedot provided an unusual platform for creative architectural lighting that complemented a projection-based show created by Brian Eno and Pod Bluman. “Since access to the fixtures under the dish was limited we choose Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s to illuminate it as we knew they could be rigged and left with minimal attention required.”
Audile has been involved with Festival No.6, situated in the picturesque Welsh village of Portmeirion, for the past five years. The company delivers lighting for the Main stage, the iStage and Clough stage in the Arena plus the Estuary stage, Stoneboat and Gatehouse stages in the Village and the Lost in the Woods stage.
“Like at Bluedot, we used Clay Paky Mythos, Stormy CC strobes and Sharpys on the Main stage,” says Leach. “We feel its important to offer equipment that the incoming LDs will know and appreciate.”
Leach comments that Alpha Spot 700 HPEs and Alpha Beam 700s featured heavily in the second stage lighting systems, in particular the iStage which centred on a circular truss creating a chandelier effect – “the gobo set in the Alpha Spot 700 HPE was particularly effective in bringing this feature to life,” he says – and the Lost in the Woods stage, where the Alpha Beam 700s guided festival-goers through the forest as daylight started to fade.
“Clay Paky is always our festival lighting equipment of choice. It’s perfect as the products are well-known and highly-regarded and withstand the rigors of back to back festivals.”
Bluedot took place between the 22 and 24 of July while Festival No.6 came later in the summer between the 1 and 4 September.