The Rock and Bowl festival started out in 2009 as a small community-driven live music event around the back of a local pub. Ashley Heritage and Nic Farman assisted the 2018 edition with a lighting rig anchored by Rogue and Nexus fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by CSPAV.
The duo deployed 30 Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash and 12 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 FX-B moving fixtures, along with 20 Chauvet Professional Nexus 7×7 warm white blinders/audience washes, on four levels of trussing to create massive tour-like lighting displays throughout the three-day festival. “Given the growth of the festival in recent years, and the stature of our acts, we wanted to create a powerful impression with our design,” said Heritage.
Providing the central visual focus in that design were 12 pixel-mapped Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures that were suspended from drop arms of differing heights to create a staggered multi-dimensional effect. Adding to the depth of the stage lighting was the infinite pan and tilt rotation of the fixture’s five individually controlled 15W RGBW moving heads.
“The R1 FX-B played a key role in crafting a large-scale visual feel,” said Heritage. “The combination of incredible brightness, saturated colours and 360° rotation gave us a lot of looks to play with, including creating light curtains and sharp energetic effects to whip up visual energy when required.”
Complementing these scissor-like looks was the colourful output of the Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash fixtures that were hung on trussing 9 meters and 6 meters high. Utilizing the wide (12° to 49°) zoom range of the wash units, Heritage and Farman were able to vary coverage areas, along with colours, to provide a continuous flow of fresh looks.
“We wanted to stagger the positions of the R2 Washes to create depth,” continued Heritage. “The zoom and saturated colours of the R2 Wash really stood out for me. During the daytime performances, the R2 Wash proved itself, shining through the sunlight on stage!”
While the Chauvet Professional Rogues provided captivating stage lighting, the Chauvet Professional Nexus 7×7 units in the rig connected the performers to the crowd with audience lighting. “We hung the Nexus fixtures from varied heights of scaffolding poles to provide eye candy for daylight and evening performances,” said Heritage. “The warm white pixel mapping created a unique visual element on stage and also further supported our goal of creating the large festival stage atmosphere.”
