The “divine art of subtlety” was palpable on the banks of Lake Vioreau, France recently at The Dub Camp Festival, as minimalist sub-bass sounds filled the air over five stages supported by the subtle lighting designs created by the team at Ecom-Events.
The internationally acclaimed dub artists Mighty Jah Observer and Martin Campbell, who performed at the seventh edition of festival, did not want much light cast on them, said Mathieu Simon of Ecom-Events. Instead, they preferred to perform in an ambient atmosphere, where light reflected their music in more nuanced, but still powerful, ways.
As production manager, Simon led the design team that created subtly evocative moods on stages ranging in size from 18x18m to 40x40m. Relying on ample use of shadows and dark space, punctuated by back and side lighting projected from off-center angles, the design team created an ethereal aura on stage that captured the deep essence of the music.The colors used against the shadowy background of the stage, were often muted, nonprimary hues, such as dark, pine green, creating an absorbing mood on stage. There were also times, however, during toasting or deejaying moments, when tightly focused key light drew eyes to the artist.
Helping the design team create this subtle power was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures from Ecom-Events’ inventory that included eight Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures, four-to-eight COLORado 3 Solo wash lights per stage, 12 OnAir IP Panel 1 units, and 16 COLORado Q40 Panels, as well as a collection of Rogue R1 FX-B and Ovation fixtures.
Ecom-Events deployed these fixtures over the festival’s five stages, all of which hosted performers simultaneously throughout the four-day festival. Two stages were lit using a lighting playback setup, while the other three were run with ChamSys desks.
“This festival required a great deal of organization to be successful, as at least 20 different artists performed on each stage,” said Simon. “Big shout out to Olivier and Romuald from Getup, the non-profit that organizes the festival, as well as to our team Jeffrey, Jérôme and Thomas.”
As for the fixtures in the festival rig, Simon not only selected them because their performance features allowed the team to create delicately balanced looks, but also for their IP rating. The IP 65 rating was very important at this festival, he says, not because of the chance of rain, but (fittingly), because of something more subtle – dust.
“The site where the festival takes place is very dusty, especially during summer months when rain is scarce. Any non-IP projector would have gone straight to the bin after the event. In this case, our very competent stock manager gave them a quick power-hosing session and were off to new adventures!”
