EUROLITES IN THE HOTHOUSE
Leading production rental company Eurolites has been facilitating the successful return to the road of Irish band Hothouse Flowers, supplying a sizeable lighting rig that includes copious amounts of Martin Pro equipment.
The band's lighting has been designed by Howard Kirk, who operates an Avolites Pearl. Kirk's brief from the band (who feature in our Cornbury Festival report this month) called for him to provide good overall light, rich colours for the upbeat songs and moodiness for the slower ballads.
The rig consists of four 40' trusses which contain 14 six-lamp Par 64 bars, eight four-lamp Par 64 ACL bars, eight Mac 500s, eight Mac 600s, 12 Mac 250s, six 8-Lite DWEs, six Par 64 floor lights, Avolites mains distribution and dimmers, two Jem Stage Hazers and an 80' black drape.
Said Kirk: "The Flowers are a very easy band to work with and they provide a lot of energy on stage. The Macs really feed off the energy and produce a fast paced and lively show. The couple of numbers sung in Irish were a bit over the head of a British LD - I hadn't a notion of what it was all about!"
Other recent Eurolites projects have included the 14-date Blossom Hill Wines-sponsored Catwalks tour of Ireland, in association with Clarks Shoes. The format for each night started with a champagne reception from Blossom Hill, a fashion and beauty exhibition, and following a three-course meal, guests were treated to a high class fashion show by some of Ireland's top models. The Rat Pack singers Peter Corry and Michael Sands rounded off each evening with some memorable numbers.
The stage set was custom built, designed by Dale Newman and Howard Kirk, and the lighting scheme was notable for its use of several items from Pulsar's ChromaRange, such as eight ChromaPanels and four ChromaBanks.
"The Chromas worked faultlessly on the entire tour, but then you can always depend on Pulsar for quality," said Kirk. "The Chroma Panels gave a great effect to the fashion show with smooth crossfading colours, whilst the Chroma Banks gave a nice even light as room toners."