Professional Lighting & Production - Summer 2017 | Page 25

“When you’re looking at a still picture, [the spokes]
show up very well, but honestly, the biggest and best
element is the bulkheads and the 4-mm LED panels on
the rings – it’s so high res,” Papas notes about the visuals.
The under-balcony bulkhead is lined with 1.5-m long
SPI RGB LED lighting tracks, again controlled by Madrix.
“They are curved on two separate axes, 980 of them
placed about an inch apart and, in all, 240 feet long,”
Papas explains.
While hardly a technical term, the best way to de-
scribe the shape of these elements is “wavy” – conform-
ing to the footprint of the balcony itself and floating in a
way that surrounds the main dance floor.
On top of the bulkheads, there are also 16 ADJ Vizi
Beam RXONE compact moving heads deployed.
On the stage, there is a 72-ft. wide video wall com-
prised of 40 sq. m of 10-mm LED panels and 40 sq. m
of 6-mm LED panels fed by a Christie Spyder X20 video
processor/switcher.
Some of the content displayed on the venue’s video
walls is generated from stock library elements within the
proprietary programs associated with the gear, but most
of the video content the club uses is either custom cre-
ated internally at INK or by Montreal-based production
company Black Mohawk.
The stage lighting package includes various Elation
fixtures: 16 Platinum HFX hybrid beam, spot, and wash
fixtures; 22 ZW19 LED moving washes; and eight Plati-
num Beam 5R Extremes.
“A lot of bands are touring with their
own stuff and will take those down and
use their own gear,” Papas puts in about
when touring productions take over the
venue, “but I’d say that most bands are
actually using what’s in house.”
Control of the system is handled via
DMX through one MA Lighting grandMA
console, which triggers the Madrix sub
controllers and the aforementioned
Christie Spyder X20.
About the Spyder X20, Papas says: “It’s
a very sophisticated processor that shapes
the video images so it can scale and crop,
switch, and do anything you can possibly
think of with eight ins and eight outs.”
Finally, the venue required a large
amount of accent lighting, much of which
is achieved using several thousand feet of
Rosco LED tape for banquettes, bars, and
the edges of bar shelving.
According to INK’s website, multi-
media production for the venue was led
by Adam Hummel, who boasts a pretty
impressive resume when it come to art
direction and motion design. Among
the major projects in which he’s had a
hand are Beyoncé’s Formation world tour,
Imagine Dragons’ 2015 world tour, and
Madonna’s 2012 world tour.
Beyond that, the elaborate spectacles
at REBEL incorporate: the work of chore-
ographer Nico Archambault, 2008 winner
of So You Think You Can Dance Canada and
once a dancer for Janet Jackson, costume
design by Black Mohawk CEO Jessica Roy,
and creative direction by Black Mohawk
director Jack Kalachian.
As for the custom technical element
of the club’s systems, Papas says: “Nothing
was off the shelf – everything was custom
built, all the way down to the power
supply and the PC boards that hold the
LED strips and the extruded aluminum
the bulkheads are mounted on.”
Together, they all come together to
provide a stunning look – even when the
system is off. “We worked closely with
the owner and the interior designer to
make sure that what we were putting in
worked for everybody’s plans and wishes,”
Papas adds in summary. “It was definitely
a group effort, and resulted in something
you won’t see anywhere else.”
In short, this is not your average
lighting and video system, not your
average nightclub, and not your average
nightlife experience. In every respect,
REBEL raises the bar.
Kevin Young is a Toronto-based
musician and freelance writer.
PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING & PRODUCTION • 25