Aktuelle News & Schlagzeilen

First Robe Footsies in the US on CMA Fest

Rental company Fuse has invested in the first Robe Footsie luminaires to arrive in the USA. Lighting designer Mike Swinford of UpLate Design utilized these fixtures as a key lighting element for the 2023 CMA Fest.

The four-day festival is hosted by the Country Music Association (CMA) and recorded at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, in front of live audiences and broadcast on ABC a couple of months later. This year, the airing date was brought forward from its traditional August slot to 19th July.

Swinford has lit the multi-camera event for the last 21 years. This year, thirty Footsie luminaires were positioned in a line along the front of stage for a strip of footlight illumination. As the Footsie has an integral cable tray, all cabling was concealed resulting in a flat, streamlined look onstage.

The IP65-rated Footsie is currently available in two standard lengths, Footsie1 measures 600 mm and Footsie2 is 1200 mm - this was the size that Fuse ordered. The CMA Fest Footsie luminaires had their waterproofness tested during the festival as the weather on the final night was seriously soggy. “They took a lot of direct rain”, recalls Swinford.

Additionally, the LD also specified eighty Robe Spiider luminaires on the rig which were installed on 18 x 35 ft vertical towers positioned across the back and around the sides of stage and used for stage washing and for pixel effects. On top of ten of the towers at the back were ten Robe Forte luminaires, six running on RoboSpot followspot systems.

Swinford worked alongside an FOH team including lead programmer Mark Butts, and Andre Petrus who took care of the key and audience lighting. They collaborated closely with television lighting director Mark Carver and gaffer Cole Kiracofe. The camera director was Alan Carter, the stage manager was Cindy Sinclair. Fuse’s account handler was Scott Bishop; it was their first time as the CMA Fest lighting vendor.

(Photos: John Russell/Country Music Association/Mike Swinford)

www.robe.cz

© 1999 - 2024 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories