In summer 2024, ADJ fixtures were once again used almost exclusively to illuminate the main stage at the SV Arena festival in Powys, Wales. Figure of Eight Events again took responsibility for the technical production of the stage, deploying a variety of ADJ fixtures including the new Jolt Panel FXIP and Vizi Beam RX2, which are recent additions to the company’s rental inventory.
Running alongside the Royal Welsh Show, last year SV Arena replaced the former Young People’s Village (YPV). In 2024 the event again provided a place for younger attendees to camp and enjoy evening events hosted in a 2,500-capacity ‘big top’ tent. The highlights of this year’s entertainment included DJ sets from Ex-Welsh Rugby International Josh Navidi and Stickmen Project, a foam party, a silent disco, and tribute bands Sham Fender, The Brightside Killers and Attic Monkeys!
Founded in 2014 by Rich Rayner, who has spent his entire working life in the event production industry, Figure of Eight has developed an enviable reputation as a ‘go to’ event production company in South Wales. Rich has invested heavily in ADJ lighting equipment over the past five years, and now holds an extensive rental stock of fixtures. Ready for the 2024 summer season this inventory was expanded by the addition of Jolt Panel FXIP, Focus Hybrid and Vizi Beam RX2 luminaires, the later serving as replacements for the company’s hardworking Vizi Beam RXONEs.
“The Vizi Beam RXONE has been a truly great fixture for us,” enthused Rayner. “In fact, it was so good, so reliable, and so in demand that our fixtures went out so much that they were ready to be replaced! And the RX2 was the obvious choice for that. We’ve been really impressed by the build quality of the Focus Flex L7 and it feels like the RX2 is similar, a definite step up from the RXONE. That was a great light, but it did have more a of a plasticky DJ feel, whereas the RX2 feels like a pro fixture. The field of light is also much smoother, a remarkably even output for a discharge fixture with a much less pronounced hot spot. It also has a few useful extra features: the 4-facet linear prism in addition to the 16-facet circular, motorized focus and the 3-phase motors, which make for even quicker and smoother movement. And, of course, the price is great, which made for an easy decision.”
24 of the Vizi Beam RX2 fixtures were utilised for SV Arena, deployed across the upstage and side-of-stage trusses. These were complemented by 24 of ADJ’s equally compact Focus Flex L7 LED wash-zoom luminaires. Each featuring seven independently controllable 40-Watt lime-infused colour mixing LEDs, these fixtures offer a wide zoom range of 6 ~ 55° and can therefore be utilised to generate wide washes as well as tight columns of light. The final moving head used for the stage was the Focus Hybrid, another new addition to the Figure of 8 rental inventory.
“The Focus Hybrid is a great, compact and feature-packed fixture,” commented Rayner. “One of the things I really like is its synergy with the RX2. In beam mode they look very similar – we’ve A/B tested them and I’m sure no audience member would be able to tell them apart. That means we can use the two fixtures together to create those big multi-beam effects, but the Hybrids also have the flexibility to zoom out to serve as spots to create those wider GOBO looks when required. They offer phenomenal bang for your buck!”
A combination of 18P HEX IP and 7P HEX IP LED pars were utilised to illuminate the performers on stage, providing both front and side light, as well as to wash the crowd. Additionally, ADJ’s LED-powered Encore Burst 200 twin-cell blinders were deployed across the rear of the stage. The rig was completed by twelve Jolt Panel FXIP units, which were interspersed with the blinders.
“This is something new for us as we didn’t really own any ‘eye candy’ fixtures before we invested in the Jolt Panel FXIP,” explained Rayner. “So, they were a way to expand the inventory of what we can offer to our clients. I’ve been really impressed so far, they are brilliant fixtures. The construction is very solid – similar to the 15 HEX Bar IP, which was the first ADJ LED fixture we bought and has proved to be extremely reliable – they are rock solid. The Jolt Panels are insanely bright; we had to dial them back quite a bit at SV Arena as they were too bright at full output for a stage of that size.”
By drawing together three different moving head variants, LED pars, blinders and strobes, Figure of Eight provided SV Arena with a versatile rig for its main stage. This allowed Lighting Programmer and Operator Lewis Hounsell to generate a wide variety of looks and effects to complement the festival’s diverse line-up of musical performers.
