CONCERT OUTSIDE THE RAMADA PLAZA IN DOWNTOWN CALGARY
CONCERT OUTSIDE THE RAMADA PLAZA IN DOWNTOWN CALGARY
couldn ’ t let the ambient heat out . So , we would have to bring these specialized covers for on top of our screens , and if it was raining or a threat of rain , then we would have to put them on , and if it wasn ’ t , then we would open them up . It was very odd , but the screens were tough to deal with and there was a lot of experimentation .”
For rigging the outdoor gigs , Antonio explains , “ it ’ s usually a square truss structure , where we can do a covering hang of fixtures . Then in certain situations , the stage is completely open . If it ’ s a great day , we can open up the whole venue to the visual experience . So , instead of having the truss structure be your only place to look at , the backdrop of the city comes into play . We can use colour and gobos and movement on the cityscape , and that ’ s pretty impressive when you look at the space you ’ re in .”
This use of the urban backdrop to augment the look of the show from the balconies is something that Cyrynowski was blown away by . “ George took the liberties to light up the rest of the downtown buildings . Those sorts of unique , customized things that nobody ’ s seen before . It ’ s really added itself to the experience ,” he says excitedly , explaining that an adjacent office building even got in on the fun after seeing the shows happening at the Ramada every Saturday . “ Perhaps it was a custodian or maintenance person who would do it , but they would actually light up a heart , utilizing probably about 10 floors . On the one side of the building , he would turn off all the lights except the ones that would make the shape of a heart . So , as the sun went down and George would light up the buildings … it just made for a spectacular , unique experience for everybody , including the bands . They would look up and see this beautiful heart somehow just appear . Many of us , including the artists , were touched by this wonderful gesture .”
In terms of lighting design , one of the other unique aspects of the outdoor shows was that there are very few fixtures on the trussing . The floor , in essence , became the lighting truss surrounding the stage , and the package was all about high-output fixtures . “ In the indoor venue , we can hang truss , we can do giant pillars , and all that type of stuff up as high as we can get it , and that ’ s more of a more normal type of show . But outside , because the whole show is flipped upside down , we really don ’ t hang any of the fixtures because there ’ s no real point . When we do our fixtures , they are almost all on the ground , pointed almost straight up . Yes there are beams and colour washes on the big open areas , but for the beams and effects looks , straight up is the ticket ,” says Antonio .
For the Hotels Live outdoor shows at the Ramada , a standard design would use about two-dozen Orion ORCAN 2 LED par cans , six or eight Elation blinders , and a dozen Beam 230s ( a sharpy-beam moving head ).
“ When we did the Pink Floyd [ tribute ] show , we brought in 40 sharpies , 75 par cans , 25 blinders , and different things like lasers , additional moving wash fixtures , and stuff like that – but it was all on the floor ,” adds Antonio . “ The entire show , they ’ re all shooting straight up so that when you look down over your balcony rail , it ’ s still all there . It ’ s very odd .”
For the recent atrium shows at the Delta , there ’ s even more fixtures being used , and more lights on trussing for a more traditional look to the show space .
“ For the inside shows , we ’ re trying to get as much ‘ bang for the buck ’ as we can , because it is the time to have fun ! You know , we want to have fun with our crowds , so we ’ re trying to give them as much as possible . So , the inside show looks a lot different than the outside show . We use almost double or triple the inventory , in some respects , inside than we did outside ,” Antonio notes .
For lighting control , it ’ s always done via an Avolites Arena or Avolites Tiger Touch II console . “ We are big fans of Avo-
20 | Spring 2021