MAC 250 Entour Lights COSATU Concert

November 03, 2003

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU, the largest labor federation in South Africa, held a concert recently in conjunction with their 8th National Congress. Held at Gallagher Estate on the 24th of September 2003, the event included a gala dinner and concert with 3000 delegates and invited guests from all over the world.

Special emphasis was placed on the lighting aspect of the event, as it needed to facilitate a multi camera recording to be edited down to DVD for international distribution. Gallo Record Company recorded the concert live.

M.J. Lighting
M.J. Lighting, a leading player in stage and lighting design in South Africa, was contracted to provide lighting, structure and design for the event. In order to elevate the overall look, M.J. Lighting provided a mix of automated and conventional lighting. The lighting rig, given a ‘proudly South-African’ flare by LD Francois van der Merwe, did justice to the line up of artists, a glittering array of 12 of the elite of South Africa’s performing artists.

Francois’ objective was to provide color wash and visibility for a 13 piece band across a 12m by 9.6m main performance area, as well as a 7.2m by 3.6m upstage raised platform which accommodated a 100 piece choir. The audience, as well as a stage backdrop made from stretch panels that spanned the width of the stage and height of the venue, was also lit for the cameras.

MAC 250 Entour
The rig included Martin MACs consisting of 8 MAC 2000 Profile and 20 new MAC 250 Entour hung off 120m of a-type and s-type truss and suspended over 16 cm electric motors. The MAC 250 Entour is one of two new versions of Martin’s groundbreaking 250-watt automated profile spot. It includes a number of important advancements including a superior optical system and new achromatic lens system, all new graphics possibilities, a specially designed dimming system and more. Martin lighting was supplied through Electrosonic SA, Martin’s South African distributor.

M.J. Lighting had a busy September having provided equipment and service to a number of top events including The Weakest Link, the Big Brother Africa Final, a Bill Gates conference, the COSATU concert and others.

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