Having hosted some of New Zealand’s and the world’s biggest stars, Auckland’s Studio the Venue has for years housed the future of the country’s ever-growing live entertainment scene, predominately for DJs and EDM gigs.
The venue has always had a very basic lighting rig, sub-hiring when necessary, but recently it was decided to step things up and make it a more rider-friendly club. The venue’s lighting designer Taylor Haynes was tasked with overseeing the production of the venue and finding the right kit for the job. Show Technology was able to consult and discuss options, and demo product at our showroom and on-site at the venue, resulting in our kit becoming the installed product.
Taylor opted for six Claypaky Sharpy Plus, six Martin MAC Aura XB, a couple of ShowPRO Collider FC and an MA Lighting grandMA3 Compact.
“The previous lighting gear was pretty crappy and acts started complaining about it so I was asked to design a package that would work for most types of shows,” explained Taylor. “The package needed to be added onto easily whilst also being accepted as it is with no upgrade.”
Taylor adds that the Claypaky Sharpy Plus was an ideal fixture due to its hybrid nature, able to be a perfect beam light and a perfect spotlight.
“It makes them a versatile fixture and simply a good allrounder,” he said. “We love to use the fixtures in spot mode and wide zoom as well, plus the colours and effects are great. They also retain the look of the original Sharpy beam but with considerably more power.”
The MAC Aura XBs were chosen due to their immense popularity in the touring scene where they are the industry standard wash fixture.
“The MAC Aura XB also has great zoom capabilities and is very bright,” commented Taylor. “It’s a great compact fixture that packs a big punch. It’s also lightweight and can also deliver some tight beam looks when required.”
The in-house package is rounded off by a couple of ShowPRO Colliders chosen not just because they’re fabulous but because so many New Zealand production houses have them in their inventory.
“They are so widely used here and acts are pleased to see them in our inventory,” added Taylor. “They are very bright and certainly deliver bang for buck!”
For control, Taylor opted for an MA Lighting grandMA3 Compact again because MA is the most rider-friendly console on the touring market.
“It’s also what I use so I wasn’t going to choose anything else!” he admitted. “The MA3 Compact fitted within our budget and it does what we need it to do for the venue.”
Taylor notes that the service provided by Show Technology was great and he was impressed at how quickly the fixtures were delivered.
