LISBURN, Northern Island — A destination for fans of Irish linen, with perhaps a few lost tourists seeking the capital of Portugal, Lisburn offers a variety of live performances from the Island Theatre, which recently invested in an Avolites Pearl Tiger lighting console. The theatre is in steady use, staging medium scale professional and amateur shows, concerts and events. The main hall is a flexible space offering a 402 capacity when in its seated configuration and 680 standing. There is also a studio theatre space.
Belfast-based Production Services Ireland (PSI) supplied the Tiger. The theatre had been renting additional gear from PSI for some time to supplement their larger shows and annual summer festival, including a Pearl console.
Simon Bird, one of the Island’s events technicians, said the crew’s approval had him mulling the purchase of a second-hand Pearl when the Tiger was launched at PLASA last year.
The Island had also recently invested in eight Robe ColorMix 240 ATs, primarily for the Studio theatre, and those needed a control desk, so it made sense for them to buy a Tiger.
This was the first Pearl Tiger that PSI has sold into the province, and PSI’s Sean Pagel said, “this really is a perfect situation for this console — it was made for the job.”
Bird and the main technical crew had all completed a Pearl training course held at PSI last year, and since the Tiger runs on the same programming and operating platform, they didn’t face a difficult learning curve in putting it to use.
“I love all the Tiger’s shape generation facilities,” said Bird. “Within 10 minutes you can create a really good looking rock ‘n’ roll show, and it also takes Pearl disks, so you can easily transfer any Pearl-programmed show.”
He added that the Tiger’s compact size is a good fit for their venue, where one technician will typically run both sound and lighting for a show. “It’s extremely logical,” he said. “The software does exactly what you would expect it to do next.”
In the Island’s main auditorium, the Tiger is controlling six Martin Professional MAC 250 Kryptons and a wide variety of generic theatre lanterns and PARs, plus the Robe ColorMix 240s.
For the larger shows, the crew will still rent additional fixtures as needed. The Tiger offers the control headroom the crew needs for integrating the extras into the system.
Other benefits of having the Tiger include its popularity as a desk of choice for visiting LDs.
“The control side of all types of music shows in NI tend to be very Avolites orientated, and now with the Tiger we have a console that is perfect for smaller shows, corporate events and venues,” said PSI’s Pagel.
The Island’s Tiger has been in action on several dance shows since it arrived, as well as for the Music Revolution festival, which featured bands like the Futureheadz, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and many others, plus local groups.
For more information, please visit www.avolites.com.
