It was business as usual during the 36th edition of the Glastonbury Festival. But given this event’s penchant for delighting the imagination with joyfully spontaneous eruptions of the outrageous and unexpected, this means that things were anything but “usual” during the five-day free-spirited celebration of music and life.
Of course, there are some things that can be expected at Glastonbury year after year, such as standout performances by major stars, stunning stage designs, colourful banners fluttering on the hillsides, fans in wildly creative costumes, and ChamSys consoles being used just about everywhere.
This year, ChamSys desks were included in the production designs on eight Glastonbury stages, in addition to others being brought to the festival by a host of LDs working for a wide range of artists like Simon Horn for Maribou State, Isabel Del Moral for Rosalia, and Gary Wilson for Lewis Capaldi.
At the popular Park Stage, a MagicQ MQ500 Stadium with a Stadium Playback Wing served as the main desk, where it was used by a variety of LDs, including Tom White for Michael Kiwanuka. South West Group Events, which provided stage production, supplied the MQ500 Stadium, as well as the MagicQ MQ80 backup console. The Lighting Manager for the stage was Callam Thom, and the Console Operator was Steven “Mac” McCracken.
Southampton-based GLS Lighting supplied a MagicQ MQ100 plus Playback Wing for the Avalon Stage, which was overseen by Console Operator Will Thomas. The impressive artist list on that stage included James Morrison, with the desk operated by long-time ChamSys user Martin Dudley of Martin’s Lights, and The Cat Empire with LD Paula Trounce.
Other places where ChamSys could be found during the festival included:
- The BBC Introducing Stage, which had an MQ80 plus an Extra Wing Compact operated Zac Leighton and Alex Merrett over the festival.
- Silver Hayes WOW Stage, which featured an MQ100 Pro 2010 kit supplied by Fineline Lighting and operated over the weekend by James “Chimpy” Harrington.
- Left Field– With an MQ80 and Extra Wing Compact supplied by and operated by South West Group Events.
- Greenpeace Field, which featured a MagicQ MQ500 programmed by David Howard.
- Unfairground, which featured a MagicQ MQ80.
- The Rabbit Hole Inn Bar, which had a MagicQ MQ80 supplied and programmed by David Howard.
So even though fans have come to expect the unexpected from the world’s largest green field festival, the lighting designers and artists who come to Glastonbury want a consistent level of performance they know they can rely on, which is why ChamSys continues to be a common sight at the Worthy Farm.