With many music stages and event spaces throughout the city’s UNESCO protected medieval centre, the annual 10-day Gentse Feesten is a go-to event for Northern European music lovers. Shining brightly against the city’s beautiful gothic architecture was the festival’s Sint-Baafsplein square stage. Vince de Schinckel brought the stage – one of the festival’s largest – to glittering life with help from eight STRIKE 1, 20 Maverick MK2 Wash, and 16 Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Belgian rental specialists Euro PA.
The 230W single source STRIKE 1 fixtures provided de Schinckel with an impactful tungsten emulating blinder and wash tool for creating classic main stage looks. “After having a great experience with the STRIKE 4 on last year’s festival, I was excited to try out the single source STRIKE 1,” he said. “The visual impression created by the STRIKE 1 was incredible. Not only was I able to illuminate the whole square and surrounding buildings in blinder mode, I was able to create subtle eye candy wash effects thanks to the warm tungsten emulating dimming curve.”
To provide the main visual support to the bands on stage, de Schinckel relied upon a combination of Maverick MK2 Wash and MK2 Spot fixtures. He positioned the wash fixtures above the stage on truss to provide concentrated wash lighting across the entire stage area below. The spot fixtures, on the other hand, were specified for their ability to cut through the wash beams with intense and sharp accuracy, thus providing the necessary visual juxtaposition.
“The combination of the Maverick MK2 Spot and Wash is an extremely powerful one,” commented de Schinckel. “The output of both fixtures is very strong. The spot and wash combination gave me a whole array of looks to play with. And thanks to the various gobo and prism effects of the spots, we had some great visual tools at our disposal to create an intense atmosphere worthy of any festival main stage.”
Schinckel’s lighting arsenal also included 24 Intimidator Hybrid 140SR fixtures from Chauvet DJ. Chosen for their impressive size to output ration, these fixtures were flown from overhead stage truss. In addition to the powerful 140W discharge source, the fixture’s ability to morph effortlessly between spot, beam and wash with a number of standard effects such as rotating gobos and multi-facet prisms gave de Schinckel a further tool to shape the atmosphere of the various performances.
“The great thing about specifying Intimidators on an event like the Gentse Feesten is that they don’t take up too much space at all,” said de Schinckel. “Despite their compact size, they’re able to outshine many larger fixtures, and their versatility is second to none. As a result, the Intimidators were specified for a whole range of purposes to fill in the blanks on stage.”
Once again, de Schinckel has proven that a modern and energetic festival visual concept can be achieved with the strategic employment of a few select fixtures. “The historic Sint-Baafsplein square is a formidable setting in itself,” concluded de Schinckel. “Thanks to the Chauvet Professional and Chauvet DJ fixtures, however, we were able to ensure that all eyes were firmly transfixed on the energetic visuals during the various performances throughout the full 10 days. And I’m happy to say that the fixtures didn’t miss a beat.”
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