South Africa - The 2024 Afrikaans is Groot (AIG) concert series was staged at SunBet Arena in Time Square, Pretoria, produced by Coleske Artist Management. Nine sold-out performances thrilled audiences over two consecutive weekends.
The show was lit by two of South Africa’s best-known lighting designers, Joshua Cutts and André Siebrits from Visual Frontier. On the lighting rig were Robe moving lights, all delivered by Johannesburg-based lighting rental company, MGG.
Cutts and Siebrits have both worked on the annual event previously. In fact, Cutts has clocked up around seven years as lighting designer and Siebrits at least six, the last four as lead programmer. 2024 was the 10th anniversary of the overall event which has proved enduringly popular with the Afrikaans community.
The general theme this year was gold, so for lighting that immediately suggested a palette rich in ambers and warm tones as Cutts and Siebrits set to work on producing their lighting magic. “This event has evolved into more of a Visual Frontier co-design,” explained Cutts, with him concentrating on the artists and atmospheric elements, while Siebrits takes care of programming all the effects. “We are a great team,” says Cutts describing the combination of Siebrits’ cutting-edge technical skills with his overall imagination and perspective.
A wide variety of Robe kit was used, including Esprites, BMFL WashBeams, Blades & Spots, LEDBeam 100s, 150s and 350s, Pointes, MegaPointes, Spiiders, Tetra2s and Squares, plus four RoboSpot base stations, all adding up to 361 Robe products on the rig along with some other lights making up the total of just over 800 light sources.
23 artists took to the stage for the two-and-a-half-hour show, so the lighting department also had to give each one a different and distinctive look as they powered through the best Afrikaans songs of the year.
“Basically, we had to be very flexible and dynamic and that’s what drove the fixture choice and why we wanted so much Robe,” stated Cutts.
The impressive 50m-wide stage traversed the complete width of the arena. Set and stage layout was designed by MGG’s Günther Müller. The technical director was Coleske Artist Management’s Ian Vos and their creative producer was Barry Pretorius, so much of the inspiration for all departments came from these two, who decided the overall style, which Cutts and Siebrits took as a starting point for the lighting design.
The diagonally orientated design was large, prominent and also set the tone, and one of the initial tasks for lighting was in-filling any black spaces in between the LED elements.
The small size of the various LEDBeam fixtures was a real asset, and three automated triangular-shaped header pods rigged over the downstage / forestage area were populated with LEDBeam 150s and Tetra2s on one side, and a set of blinders on the reverse for completely contrasting effects. Each pod was rigged on three motors so they could pitch, tilt and completely change the structural appearance of the stage space.
The Esprites and LEDBeam 350s were alternated along two L-shaped trusses covering three-quarters of the side stage depth, and from these positions, they could cover the stage with quality washes and highly effective beams. LEDBeam 100s were positioned left and right of the main screen for a low-angle flare.
The Pointes and MegaPointes were the beam workhorses of the show, with the MegaPointes positioned along the front edge of the stage, thoughtfully calculated so they didn’t blind the audience’s eyes when doing sweeping, all-encompassing room effects.
LEDWash 600s were used as audience lighting, rigged in six trusses flown above the arena, and the Spiiders formed part of the back wall V-shaped feature lighting where the Flower effect and pixel capabilities could be maximised. “You have a pixel effect, a wash and a strobe all in one fixture – we love Spiiders!” commented Cutts.
The 27 Esprites were the main back light onstage, also specials on the band and dancers. The show featured multiple guest artists, so specials were vital, and this year, three of those Esprites were also operated via the RoboSpot system.
The BMFLs were the principal key lights – four also running on RoboSpots and the balance used for general stage front light, with the BMFL Blades especially used to light the band members.
Alongside the many challenges of working on Afrikaans is Groot come many rewards. “The Coleske Artist Management organisation really trusts us. This show is a big part of their identity and it’s an honour to receive and enjoy this professional respect from Arnold Coleske, Brendon Hargroves and Ian Vos, together with Barry who has very strong and coherent ideas that help us all to work towards a production design that’s exciting, beautiful and entertaining. Everything we envisioned for this came to life on stage,” concluded Cutts.
