Leading Slovenian lighting designer Crt Birsa specified 87 x Robe moving lights
including Pointes, MMX Spots and MMX WashBeams for a special fifth anniversary
concert by Croatian superstars 2CELLOs, staged at the beautifully atmospheric
Verona Arena in Italy.
The cello duo of Luka Šulić and Stjephan Hauser have seen their fame and
popularity soar since 2011 when their cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal’
went viral on You Tube! Now signed to Sony Masterworks, they have produced three
studio albums and perform their unique instrumental blend of pop and rock classics
to a growing fan-base worldwide.
All lighting equipment was supplied by top Croatian rental company Eldra d.o.o.,
from Zagreb, which has invested heavily in Robe in recent years, with products
supplied by Robe’s Croatian distributor, LAV Studio.
Due to the rainy weather forecast in Verona, all lights had to be rigged underneath
a roof structure onstage, rather than around the back of the arena as was originally
intended had the weather outlook been more favourable and commitment to an
open set up been possible.
The 44 x Pointes, 16 of the 24 x MMX Spots and 13 of the 19 x MMX WashBeams
were all hung upstage in the roof, with 8 MMX Spots on the front truss for specials,
and 6 x MMX Washes reserved for shooting light in from the sides.
On this show, Pointes and MMX luminaires were initially chosen because of the
nature of the big open air venue for which powerful light sources were needed.
Pointes are “good multifunctional fixtures’ that can be utilized as beams or spots,
looking equally eye-catching especially with a decent number like 44. Birsa
observes that they also look highly compatible alongside the MMX Spots and
WashBeams.
He likes the MMX colour mixing which is fast and definite and thinks generally that
all the Robe fixtures work well together, making them all the more usable when
combining different types and generations!
The most challenging aspect of this show was lack of time and enormous pressure
on the day! Due to various technical issues, they were only handed the stage to
start rigging around 200 lights at midday on showday, which is a tall order for a
performance as complex and high profile as this.
“Thanks to my assistant Klemen Krajnc and all the Eldra technicians who worked
like crazy to rig the fixtures in such a short space of time – they were all amazing!’
says Birsa who, as a seasoned lighting professional, had also taken a fortuitous
opportunity to programme a large part of the show in pre-visualisation sessions!
Three spectacular 7 Watt lasers were provided for the Verona show by LumiLas,
also from Croatia, and the show was another great success for 2CELLOs, their
production team and their enthusiastic fans.
