Glastonbury, Part II

As the dust settles from this year’s Glastonbury Festival (or the mud dries), we continue our look at what went on in 2007 with a run down on the Acoustic Tent. (Martin gear was also present on the Jazz Tent among others).

The Acoustic Tent is a favorite for many, offering a chance to warm up to the day’s ear-splitting events or chill down - depending on your preference.

This year it hosted an impressive line up with Damien Rice, Sandi Thom and The Waterboys to name but a few performing beneath a large Martin rig that included Martin’s new LED Stagebar 54s teaming with MAC TW1s, MAC 700 Profiles and Washes, MAC 550 profile spots, MAC 250 Entours and MAC 250 Washes, with digital effects from a Maxedia Pro media server and fog effects from a Jem Glaciator and Jem Roadie X-Stream.

Versatile rig
The LD and board operator was Gary Churchill while Rob Sangwell from Fineline was the production manager.

“Although it is the Acoustic Tent, it is not strictly acoustic and the brief is far from a laidback acoustic gig,” comments Rob Sangwell. “It’s chilled out in the afternoon but as the evening progresses it gets more full-on and a bit rockier. Essentially what we wanted to do was light the stage appropriate to each act and keep it interesting and fresh.”

But with 12 acts a day, 12 hours a day, all in the unique challenges of Glastonbury, this is perhaps easier said than done.

“Glastonbury is a harsh environment,” Rob continues, “and not just in regards to the weather. We never know before hand just what we are going to get band-wise. It’s only two weeks before we go live that we get a list of who will be playing, so the rig has to be highly adaptive. You’re lighting for anything from a solo guitarist to a full-on 14 piece band. You need a versatile rig to cover all possibilities.”

Reliable in the rain
Rob is a hardened veteran to the whims of British weather, and after many years in the business there is little a music festival can throw at him that he can’t handle. (On top of the Acoustic Tent he was also in charge of six other stage areas). But in the rain and the mud of this year’s Glastonbury, it took 14 hours just to get the truck up to the stage area before the unloading could begin. With these sorts of timeframes, the actual setup must be fast and simple to meet tight budgets.

“We like Martin lights because they are easy to hang and reliable,” Rob says. “Everything stood up really well. The lights are running for a minimum of 14-16 hours a day but they were all fine.”

Stagebar 54 / MAC TW1
This year Rob had a chance to use a few newcomers from Martin, including the LED hit – the Stagebar 54 and the MAC TW1 tungsten wash.

“The Stagebars were great - very bright yet small and lightweight. We used 24 of them and it gave a great effect. We could address them as individual pixels or just a blanket covering.

“They really are a great all-in-one unit. You can use them with video or as a little color changer that is neat and tidy enough to fit into small gaps. Their price is attractive so you can afford to go and pick up enough of them and scatter them around to make it look interesting. We controlled them through the Maxedia media server. This was the first time we used a media server so we were interested to see how it would work in the rough conditions of Glastonbury. It is all very well if it can work in a studio environment but we wanted to see it in the mud - and Maxedia was really good. It was definitely hardy enough and easy to use, we didn’t have any problems at all.”

Rob also took the MAC TW1 for a maiden voyage.

“We got a chance to try the MAC TW1s for the first time and they were much brighter than I thought they would be. They really did a good job.”

Second-to-none support
Rob says that he likes the Martin lights, but it is also the back up that makes him go to Martin. “The support is second-to-none and that is so important. Nobody gives you the support like Martin - the people really give a damn and that is just as important to us as the quality of the products.

“Advice, backup, spares – we can get them all quickly and efficiently. That’s service.”

With so many great musical acts behind them, and another Glastonbury festival packing up, Rob and his crew are already preparing for the next big festival - and praying for a little sunshine.