Ukrainian rock band KARTA SVITU launched their new album The Space of Important Things with a showcase gig at the Bel Etage venue in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The show was directed by Mari Pogrebynska and Pavlo Zakrevskyi and included lighting design by Anton Semeniuk who utilised 32 Robe Spikie moving lights, six ColorWash 575s and a BMFL Follow Spot controlled via a RoboSpot system among other lights, all supplied by Ukraine’s largest lighting rental company, Alight.
Like everything in Ukraine, the show, production and entertainment industry has adapted to the realities of wartime, and while Alight has moved much of its equipment inventory to Poland for the moment. “The stage space was too restricted to realise our initial ideas, so we found ourselves needing small but multifunctional devices, and Robe’s Spikie immediately came into my mind,” Semeniuk explained.
Pogrebynska, Zakrevskyi and Semeniuk collaborated on the stage set design which included LED tubes rigged to create an abstract but interesting space. Within this were the band and their music which captures some of the spirit and the moments of Ukraine in 2024. The set concept was to have the three walls of lighting wrapping around the band leaving the fourth wall open at the front, inviting the audience in to join them.
Sixteen Spikies were hung on two rear trusses rigged in the roof and the other 16 were deployed across four vertical truss towers, stage left and right on the deck.
He noted that Robe’s colour saturation and colour mixing in general is excellent and nicely matched across all the different fixture types.
For key lighting and specials on lead singer Ivan Marunych, the BMFL FollowSpot was another great result. The BMFL FollowSpot was rigged on a separate front truss, with the RoboSpot operator located backstage.
The six ColorWash 575s were hung on the front truss and used for general stage washes. The biggest challenge for any performance staged in Ukraine right now is unwanted interruptions, typically by air raid alerts, missile and drone attacks or power outages. Thankfully, none of these occurred during this show and the band delivered a set for their fans.
The opportunity to work on this show alone was the most enjoyable aspect for Semeniuk. “When the whole team unites to realise a great show and you see everything perfectly harmonised with band and audience on the same wavelength … it’s very special! It’s such a great feeling,” he enthused.
He is also the first to compliment the great technical team from Alight who helped make everything happen, including Crew Chief Andrii Konovalyuk. For audio and video, the band utilised the Bel Etage in-house systems.
Semeniuk’s first interactions with stage lighting started when aged 9, operating a follow spot for his father Fedir, who is also an LD. In 2015 he became a freelance LD working with a variety of artists both in Ukraine and internationally. He first worked with Robe in 2018 at a club in Prague, “It was an extraordinary experience!” he recalled, and he has specified Robe products ever since that time.
He’s also recently used Robe fixtures on projects at the new Leoland complex in Lviv, installed last year by Robe distributor Sound House from Dnipro, and at the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theatre.
