With 10 performance spaces, including 2 main stages, 4 tent arenas, the Steel Yard, and the new-for-2017 Warehouse venue, Creamfields cemented its place amongst Europe’s biggest music festivals, alongside LarMac LIVE.
PRG XL’s team supplied rigging, indoor and outdoor video screens; a broad variety of lighting; LED signage; media servers and content manipulation technicians; and broadcast equipment and support. On the main Arc and Horizon stages, PRG XL Video supplied festival technology including lighting, rigging and video across both structures.
Head of rigging, Q Willis took care of the rigging on both stages, leading a team that created the backbone for lighting, video, and audio technology. For all the video elements PRG XL Senior Account Manager, Paul ‘Macca’ McCauley took care of the specifications, while Project Manager Ian Jones took care of the technical delivery. For lighting, Account Manager, Gordon Torrington, and Event Services Coordinator, Chris Scott, took care of the design and implementation on site.
The Arc stage featured curved wings made up of vertical columns of 12mm ROE Visual LED, built into PRG’s custom touring frames. The spaces in the frames between the columns were used to rig a variety of lighting fixtures including Ayrton Magic Panels, 4 and 8 Lite Molefays, and Atomic Strobes. Icon Beams lined the front of the stage below the wings, creating beams of light which stretched into the sky as the sun set.
On stage, a large upstage back wall was formed from ROE 7mm LED, with a DJ riser built from the same material. The flown lighting was designed to offer incoming artists with a versatile package of fixtures, and this included Icon Beams, PRG Best Boy spots, Solaris Flare Jnrs to either side of the stage, GLP Bar 20s, and B-Eye K10s.
Above the stage, the LED header was made up of ROE MC-18 Hybrid LED. On the Horizon stage, 18mm ROE Visual LED panels were built into the structure with specific horizontal rows missing on the wings.
The spaces in the frame structures were then used to rig a variety of lights including 2 Lite Molefays and SGM Q7 blinders. Below the wings dozens of the new high brightness Icon Edge moving lights were used as beam lights. On stage, a back video wall and a front DJ riser were both formed from ROE Visual MC-7 LED, with a header of 18mm LED above the stage. Both the lighting floor package and flown rig included Atomic Strobes and Martin Mac Viper Profiles, with the stage flown lighting rig adding 4 and 8-Lite Molefays and PRG’s new Icon Edge moving lights.
In Steel Yardm a large upstage ROE Visual MC-7 LED screen and matching DJ riser were augmented by PRG’s lighting flown above the stage. The lighting fixtures were arranged on a Kinesys system, as well as lining the sides and centre spine of the huge metal roof trusses. This created an immersive space, lighting the audience with colourful beams from over 100 fixtures including GS Beams, PRG Bad Boys, and SGM P-5.
Gordon Torrington commented: “We were very happy to supply lighting to LarMac LIVE for three stages at this year’s Creamfields. It’s a brilliantly organised festival, with a huge crew. Everyone works very hard, with a strong sense of collaboration, and the end result looked amazing!”
In the Pepsi Max arena a 4.8m wide LED upstage wall and DJ riser at the rear of the tent were flanked by 54 square screens; 27 on either side arranged in rows three squares high. The wings wrapped around the audience creating a high-energy space which was extremely busy all throughout the festival. The CF06 stage, featured a single wide ROE Visual 7mm LED screen, spanning right across the rear of the tent arena. The screen was gently curved, mimicking the curve of the tent. In CF07, which hosted Mad Decent, and MK Area10 over the weekend a large upstage flown 12mm LED screen was paired with an LED DJ booth. The arena saw headline performances from MK and Diplo over the weekend, and boasted a DJ set from superstar Idris Elba, and special guest slot from Gorgon City.
Video Engineer, Alex Mulrenan, concluded: “We’re delighted to continue our working relationship with LarMac LIVE and Creamfields. Every year, the technical specification grows and is more impressive, and the audience love it. Massive thanks to every single member of our hardworking crew who worked long hours to make the festival look amazing. We can’t wait to see the designs for next year’s 21st Birthday event!”