Gigant is an arts and performance complex in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, comprising two theatre spaces, a movie house, recording studios, a music venue (popzaal) and a café, an invigorating creative space where people can soak up multiple types of performance, expression, live entertainment and storytelling. The cosy 550-capacity popzaal is a well-known hang out for music fans and a fantastic showcase for catching rising stars artists and ones-to-watch as they build their fanbases, and the venue also has a history with Robe moving lights. The latest Robe products to be installed are PAINTES, CUETES, and LEDBeam 150s which arrived at the end of 2023.
Technical Manager Simon Kemme has been working at Gigant for three and a half years and explains that it is one of a genre of multifunctional cultural buildings built throughout the Netherlands – in this case in 1994 – which has encouraged the arts to flourish. Before taking up the post here, he was a freelance sound & lighting technician who has worked with – and appreciated – Robe products for a long time, especially for their reliability and versatility.
Gigant’s popzaal – open Thursdays through Sunday each week – already had some Robe fixtures in the house when he arrived in 2021 – VIVAs and ColorSpot 250 ATs, the latter still working after many years of service. “It was time for new lights – it’s as simple as that,” he explained, adding that he was asked by superiors to propose an appropriate lighting upgrade. Searching for the best options, he immediately hit on the Robe combination. It was always going to be Robe,” he stated, “My experience makes me very confident about the brand – it’s reliable and flexible enough to cover the range of shows we stage here,” and he also wanted good color mixing, so reached out Netherlands’ distributor Controllux’s Maikel Sakkers who rocked up for a demo.
Even before seeing the PAINTES for real, going off the spec, he was convinced they were ideal for the venue. Then he saw how well they worked with the LEDBeam 150s and picked these for the bulk of the overhead rig. The four CUETES are part of the floor package, and were ordered the same way as the PAINTES, when Simon realized they would be a perfect complement to the other lights. All these fixtures are well sized for their stage space which is compact, with 4.5 meters of headroom and Simon underscores the viability and value elements of Robe product ranges with the fact that they are also rider friendly.
The 16 LEDBeam 150s, 12 PAINTES, and the CUETES are now in action and helping to create fantastic light shows for the venue’s busy live music program which embraces an eclectic program, with anything from jazz to death metal. Simon comments that the CUETE and PAINTE’S TRANSFERABLE ENGINE (TE) technology make the fixtures extremely cost effective and offers proper longevity through being able to easily replace the LED source. “We were looking for an investment that would stay relevant for at least 5 years here, but we all know that with Robe, in reality, this will be considerably longer.”
He mentioned that should they upgrade again in the music venue, any of these fixtures could also be transferred to one of the theatres and work in this environment as well, especially the PAINTES with the shuttering system. The LEDBeam 150s are ideal as they can be a good beam and a wash light that fits well with the size and clearance of the stage. Simon highlights the continuity between the colors of all three fixture types, and the compatibility of their color mixing systems as “another big advantage of purchasing Robe.”
Further information from Robe Lighting: www.robe.cz
Photos by Louise Stickland
