| Entec
Pops Up in Liverpool Again
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For the fifth year running,
Entec Lighting is supplying
CMP Entertainment with full
lighting production, foyer
area and VIP tent illuminations
and crew for the month long
2006 Liverpool Summer Pops
event.
The hugely successful 2006
Pops season features a lively
megamix of international talent
– from James Brown to
Pops regulars The Australian
Pink Floyd, from Westlife
to Whitesnake, from New Order
to Simply Red - and numerous
others. There’s something
to sate virtually every flavour
of popular music!
The event is again staged
in its 4,500 capacity 6 pole
Big Top, centrally located
along the Dock Road.
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As in previous years,
the lighting was designed
by Dave Hill. The rig
maximises the available
tent space and caters
for a wide variety of
band requirements and
visiting LDs. For the
get in, Entec supplied
8 crew including Phil
White and Leigh Yeomans,
who are now in technicians-in-residence,
running the show day-to-day,
working closely with
production manager Andy
Keightley.
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The over-stage
rig is a raked box truss –
21 ft at the rear and 28 ft
headroom at the front - ensconced
into one of the roof voids.
It’s cross-braced with
6 upstage/downstage straight
trusses, effectively creating
an angled, highly dynamic,
ceiling of lights above. This
provides ideal coverage and
versatile lamp focus right
across the stage – every
inch of the space can be hit
by one instrument or another.
The box truss
sits on a 5 leg self-climbing
ground support system, also
supplied by Entec. The front
truss is constructed from
customised Tomcat MegaTruss,
allowing a span of 58 ft with
a hefty weight loading taken
on 2 legs. This was commissioned
by Entec 2 years ago specifically
for the Summer Pops shows.
Event rigger is Sven Knight.
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For moving
lights this season,
Entec is supplying 17
Vari*Lite 2202 Spots
and 16 V*L 2402 Wash
fixtures for the stage.
There’s also 44
Martin Professional
MAC 300s used as truss
toners, both for the
overstage trusses and
around a massive box
truss in the audience.
The luminaires fit almost
perfectly into the 21.5
inch square trussing
framework.
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The main stage rig
features 33 6-lamp bars
for multi-purpose use
including providing
a basic 6 colour stage
wash that has remained
one of the constants
of the Pops rig since
day one. There’s
also 14 bars of ACLs,
ten 10 degree Source
Four profiles on the
front truss, ground
rows for the back, three
8-lite Moles and 3 Atomic
strobes. Follow spots
are four truss mounted
Panis out above the
audience, carefully
positioned so the beams
are neatly contained
with minimal spillage
onto the stage.
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A generic floor rig
is also available for
those wanting some contrast
to the roof lighting
– consisting of
four V*L 2402s, 6 groundrow/cycs
and an assortment of
floor cans that can
be dotted around in
the gaps.
Console wise this year,
Entec offers a WholeHog
II and a Wing and –
for the first time -
a GrandMA as the standard
console set ups - with
other brands available
on request. Reflecting
the growing popularity
of the GrandMA, Entec
has just invested in
two of these consoles,
one of which went straight
onto the Pops.
Avolites ART 2000 series
dimmers are used site
wide this year –
four 48 way racks in
the main room and a
72-way for the reception
area. Power distribution
is via Entec custom
units, with two 36-way
units covering the main
room.
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They are
running 8 universes
of DMX as standard,
with integral Ethernet
capabilities running
down the snake which
will increase this up
to 24 if needed. This
year, the system has
been set up so it can
easily be split for
programming across two
different consoles.
Lighting power for
the whole event runs
on two synched 800 KVA
gennies supplied by
Golden Triangle
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The
vast majority of bands brought
their own LDs, and all were
happy with the available
spec. Those without LDs/operators
were left in the very able
hands of Phil White.
In the foyer, the Entec
team flew a box truss
infrastructure off the
tent king poles onto which
was clamped 16 bars of
6 PARs, 4 Source Fours
and four MAC 500s for
sponsors logos including
the distinctive ‘Liverpool
08’ logo signalling
the year the City becomes
European Capital of Culture.
The foyer lights were
all controlled off an
independent Jands 416
desk. |
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Entec
also supplied all lighting
for the VIP room, off
to one side of the main
tent. The ambience was
subtle, with the space
completely clad with a
twinkling LED starcloth.
The tables were individually
highlighted with nine
4-lamp PAR 36 pin spot
banks. Three Source Fours
were used to project rotating
‘Liverpool 08’
logos on the walls, and
eight ARRI 500 Watt floods
illuminated the buffet,
bar and ice sculpture
area, all controlled from
a Zero 88 Sirius desk.
Entec also sorted out
the emergency lighting,
all the exit signs in
the foyer, main and VIP
tents. |
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The main challenge for the first week of shows, report White and Yeomans, was
the intense heat and soaring
temperatures. The average temperature
has so far been a sweltering
35 degrees inside the black-lined
tent, topping out at a staggering
42 degrees in the roof It’s
a testament to the lighting
kit as much as anything that
it has all kept working all
day in spite of the extreme
environment.
Photos
show New Order, lighting designer
Andy Liddle
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