Robe MMX and LEDWash fixtures used for Dalhalla outdoor theatre in Sweden
Date Announced:01 Sep 2012
Ranking among the coolest venues in the world,Dalhalla is located in a 60 metre deep former limestone quarry,7 kilometres north of beautiful Lake Siljan and the town of Rottvik in central Sweden.
The 4000 capacity open air theatre was opened in 1995 and presents a summer season of around 30 performances from operatic and choral works to full on rock&roll.
This year's festival production lighting design by Anders Hebbe Herbertzon from High Voltage Designs includes Robe MMXs and LEDWash 600s which were recently purchased by locally based lighting rental company Park Brothers,and delivered by Robe's Swedish distributor,Bellalite.
Hebbe has lit the Dalhalla Summer Season for Park Brothers for the last three years–also using Robes–including ColorWash 1200E ATs and ColorSpot 2500 and 700E ATs.
He has always liked Robe fixtures and found them very versatile for lighting the wide variety of shows staged over the three months.
This year he was delighted to be able to get his hands on the latest technology from Robe,specially the MMX Spots,which arrived just in time to be used at Dalhalla.
Earlier in the year,Park Brothers invested in Robe LEDWash 600s for the first time.
The Dalhalla design is based on two 17.6 metre long trusses hung under the fabulous looking industrial roof structure.Other lights are rigged from four catwalks which are part of the roof structure designed by Jesper Kollquist for Park Brothers.
On the front catwalk are eight LEDWash 600s.The back and mid trusses have six MMX Spots and six ColorWash 1200E ATs each,and there are another eight Robe ColorWash 1200E ATs on the floor.
This is the basic house rig,together with some conventionals to which bands can add floor specials packages if they wish.
The LEDWash 600s are used for washing the full stage and general front lighting focused down onto the forestage.They have been used on numerous shows since arriving at Park Brothers busy warehouse.
Hebbe likes the zoom on the MMXs and their very bright output,together with the hot spot control and gobo selection.The quietness of the fixtures was also a big factor in choosing the MMXs,and is critical for the classical and opera concerts on the Dalhalla Summer schedule.
At Dalhalla,the dual animation wheels also look great when projecting atmospheric effects onto the 21 metre DMX controlled water curtain which is installed in front of the downstage catwalk.
Hebbe also observes that the MMXs and the ColorWashes match each other very well in terms of colours always a bonus when mixing and matching the different fixtures on a show.
"A key for lighting the Dalhalla shows is offering enough variety and adaptability,"he says,which he is able to do using an expedient amount of fixtures thoughtfully.
Approximately half of the bands over the season will bring their own LDs,and Hebbe will light the rest.
Another issue at that venue is having strong lightsources.
While the roof new three years ago–does provide some cover and shadows,it never actually gets fully dark until the very last days of summer.
With the MMXs and ColorWashes,there is enough light to focus during daytime which is a must because most productions arrive the same day as their show!
Park Brothers now have around 50 Robe fixtures in rental stock and are the busiest lighting rental company in the area,covering shows and events of all types from live music to corporate,theatre and festivals.
