11 May 2010
Story courtesy Marcia Alves from Kilowatt AV and photos thanks to Willem van der Berg
Friday 30 April, Klein Libertas Theatre, World Famous Artists, World Famous Technical Support! Yes, that’s right, Die Antwoord are back in S.A and this outdoor venue in Stellenbosch was the perfect location for their first gig back in the mother city. Kilowatt AV, who have been preferred technical suppliers to Ninja and Yo-landi since before their rise to super-stardom came on board to supply the world famous gear and technical services!
This rave-rap duo are one of the most energetic acts in SA, dare I say worldwide, at the moment. They really engage with the audience and provide the crowds with full power until the last song is sung. We wanted to compliment their energy on stage with a monster PA system and radical lighting design. We totally transformed the Klein Libertas outdoor stage and with the help of P LED SA, who brought in a 25m square mesh LED screen, brought something totally new to this venue.
The PA System used was monstrous for the pretty small area! Six JBL SRX 728 Double 18” Subs, Four JBL SRX 718 Single 18” Subs, took care of the bass. Our six brand new crown powered JBL VRX 932 Array Cabs were flown on either side of the stage. For a crowd of approximately 1400 pax, the sound was crisp, clear and oh so loud. We really focussed on getting the precise balance between bass and vocals. Die Antwoord have a strong emphasis on their lyrics and we wanted to ensure that everyone could hear every word whilst bouncing to the meanest bass we could muster. Our front of house console choice was the Yamaha LS9 digital Mixing console, digitally taking care of all compression, gating and FX without using massive space and easily managing all the acts, from DJ’s to bands to Die Antwoord on the night.
The lighting design was inspired by arms spread in the air when cheering for the muso’s you love. We rigged two 6m quad truss sections on either side of the LED Screen creating a V-Shape to emerge from the back of the stage. From this we rigged 8x Martin MX10s, a 2000w Strobe, 2x Robe 250AT Spots, 2x Robe 250AT washes, 12x LED Par64s and 4x 1000w Generic Parcans. The show was created and plotted using Martin Show Designer Software and DMX control was taken care of by the Avolites Tiger DMX controller.
Power for the event was supplied by our high power 3 phase 125KVA blimped Generator. Power distribution was taken care of by using 2x 63amp x 2x 32amp 3 Phase Design by MAX power distros.
Acts who played before Die Antwoord were The Curious Incident, who are a four piece band who incidentally launched their album on the night. Psydstep are drum and bass enthusiasts who were joined on stage by two different MC’s. Then the well known DJ Solarize took to his turntables and wowed the crowds with his incredible scratching skills. Thereafter the crowds were shouting for Die Antwoord and they got more than what they bargained for: One proudly South African show where artists meet technical production and totally blow the crowd away!
