COEMAR PRO SPOTS RAISE THE BAR FOR ATHLETE Production company, Martin’s Lights, recently completed a tour of the UK and Ireland with current pop sensation, Athlete. As the show’s lighting designer, programmer and board operator, proprietor Martin Dudley used his full inventory of eight Coemar ProSpot 250LX moving heads to create high impact in a wide variety of venues. Martin had been recommended as lighting designer to the band through a mutual acquaintance. “I'd done three or four one-off shows earlier in the year, so when the tour was set up, I naturally pitched to supply the equipment.” The tour comprised around 20 university and larger club dates inside a month, culminating in two nights at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. All the shows were completely sold out, and many were moved to bigger venues “From a practical viewpoint, the lighting design had to fit venues from The Limelight pub in Belfast up to the Empire--and all sizes in between,” explained Martin. “It had to cope with all the variables of power, stage size etc and had to be put together by one person--me. “Artistically, there was a desire from the band for lots of colour and dynamics, but without too much gratuitous flapping of the movers!” The show (including integration of the house lighting in some instances), was run off Martin Lights’ Avolites Pearl 2000, with the moving yokes positioned on the floor, on flightcases, and a couple on wind-up stands to achieve the optimum effect.
Both the band and their management were impressed with the ProSpots. “They loved the colours, and the 250W units held their own against more powerful (575-1200W) fixtures in several of the larger venues. We are also impressed with their light weight, and the fact that they don’t draw a lot of power.” In the supporting roles were a pair of Thomas 4-lite Blinders, a pair of Diversitronics DMX3000 strobes and some high-tech festoons! Martin also added 8-lite blinders, more festoons and half a dozen floorcans with Chroma-Q colour scrollers for the London shows. Martin Dudley is already gearing up for a further short UK tour with the band in January, finishing up at the Brixton Academy. “The ProSpots will be working on that tour too — in fact I'm currently considering adding some Coemar wash lights to the design.”