In another sign of urban renewal for Newcastle’s CBD, The Wests Group have opened the inner city’s largest exhibition and conference facility entitled NEX (Newcastle Exhibition and Convention Centre).
After the purchase of Newcastle Panther’s in mid-2015, The Wests Group has transformed the venue, relaunching the lower level as Wests City and the upper space as NEX.
The good people at Scion Audio were tasked to fit out the venue and having always preferred Martin lighting products, they turned to Show Technology for advice.
“We’ve always used Martin products as we know their reliability,” commented Louise Tillman of Scion. “I have MAC250’s that I’ve had for twenty years and I still send them out knowing they’ll work every time and do the job. The other factor is the incredible service we have always received from Show Technology. Our relationship goes back to when the company started 22 years ago!”
Consequently the venue is equipped with four Martin Professional MAC Quantum Profile, twenty-four RUSH MH6 Washes, eight RUSH MH1 Profiles and a Robert Juliat Roxy follow spot, all controlled by a Martin M1 console.
“The main requirement in the brief given to us was to use LED fixtures and as it’s a large stage, we turned to the MAC Quantum Profiles as they have a great output,” added Louise. “In fact the output is very bright and crisp, plus the Animotion FX is really cool.”
Martin RUSH fixtures were added due to their versatility and cost-effectiveness without compromising on quality.
“The RUSH MH 6 Wash offers full colour wash and tight beam effects with the quality and affordability you’d expect,” said Louise. “The colours of the fixture are excellent. I really like the gobo selection with the RUSH MH1 and again, the output of the RUSH MH1 is amazing. They’re also quiet and relatively quick.”
The M1 console was chosen for its small footprint and abundance of playbacks on the control surface. The standard 10 cuelist faders and the 12 playback faders make it easy to control any show – plus it can control video too.
“It’s an easy console for our guys to operate,” Louise said. “They like the layout of the console and the ability to easily grab things on the fly.”
Keeping with the idea of an all LED venue, the new Robert Juliat Roxie LED followspot was installed. With its ultra-compact dimension and low power consumption, Roxie is ideal for this type of venue.
