04 June 2012
Photos with courtesy Eduan Kitching
We have all seen that “glow” mothers have, but having recently sat down with South African LD, Joshua Cutts, it appears that even new dads can radiate. Joshua from Visual Frontier spoke about a recent show he did for Gospel artist Joe Niemand who performed at The CocaCola Dome, Johannesburg. Gearhouse and Splitbeam provided the full technical.
The venue was packed out for Joe Niemand’s concert, “Night of Light” on the 20th March 2012. “The challenge was that we only had 36 hours to rig the entire show and for rehearsals,” explained Josh.
Joe Niemand, who presents modern day Christianity, is very specific about what he wants. Everything had to be pre-programmed and Joshua couldn’t allow himself to busk. Each track (there were 23), had to have specific colours and specific video content which ran on 220 Duo LED panels.
“Because we had specific content, we had to sync video and lighting with audio,” said Joshua. “It was complicated and the solution was to get the time code running from Pro Tools. Basically when the musical director pressed ‘play’ on stage, all lighting and video was triggered. That’s why I got the PC Wing.”
The grandMA PC Wing had just been released. “I picked up the product, not knowing what it would do. At home I sat down and was completely comfortable and could then programme off-line, in the comfort of my own home,” said Joshua.
“Joe Niemand has a very strong vision to make the world a better place through music and Jesus,” he added. The show had a rock and roll feel and included a 23 piece orchestra and for the last few songs of the evening, a choir consisting of 500 members all on stage.
The design consisted of a central stage in the dome. A 16 x 16m TFL ground support, 14m high, was rigged from which most of the lighting fixtures were flown. The 2 ton LED screen had to be rigged in the centre of the dome and lifted up and down.
“Doing any concert in the round is a challenge,” explained Joshua. “All four sides of the auditorium have to be able to see the artist, but it was awesome.”
Equipment and technical support was supplied by Gearhouse and Splitbeam. “The guys broke their backs to get the rig in,” said Joshua. “Many times it seemed a crazy venture and unachievable, even just getting the lights rigged and programmed. Marcel Wijnberger is part of the Media Department at Gearhouse and he was running the VPUs for me. Working with him was a cool experience, his knowledge and calm nature kind of puts your feet back on the ground when you are hitting a moment of stress. He had lost his voice and still stuck it out for the full 36 hour period.”
Well done Josh, it’s wonderful to see your passion mixed with experience and a sense of well being. We are also very excited for you and Megan on the birth of your brand new little girl. We know she will fill your lives with joy.
To the team at Gearhouse and Splitbeam, congratulations on always providing an outstanding service wherever you go.
Lighting Equipment
20 x Philips Vari-Lite VLX
20 x Philips Vari-LIte 3000
60 x Longman Color Me 011
48 x Martin 101
72 x Source Four 19 Deg
24 x ADB 2k Fresnels
1 x grandMA2 light
2 x grandMA2 VPUs
2 x grandMA2 NPUs (all running in sync)
2 x 5k Panthers
1 x 5k Search Light
