A Party with a Capital “P”: grandMA2 celebrate with Guus Meeuwis

His show “Groots met een zachte G” was staged at the Abe Lenstra Stadium in Heerenveen and the PSV Stadium in Eindhoven - both in The Netherlands. The stage and lighting design was created by Marco Driessen (Rentall), Henk-Jan van Beek (Light-H-Art) and Sander van den Ham (Sightline). Ezra Hommel (Light-H-Art) programmed and operated the show using 2 x grandMA2 lights and 3 x MA NPUs (Network Processing Units) with a total of 24 universes of DMX in a multiuser setup.

“For the past eight years I have been working with the grandMA ‘series 1’, and at the beginning of this year I started using the grandMA2,” explained Hommel, “The whole grandMA range is a very reliable tool for me. It’s the perfect extension for the creative process during programming and playback. I use the consoles in various sectors of our profession such as theatre, television, fashion shows and rock concerts. For each type of show a different console setup is needed and the grandMA provides me with an ideal, user friendly environment for each of them. The grandMA2 is a perfect new addition and a big step forward in lighting and media programming.”

The ‘Groots met een zachte G’ Concerts in The Netherlands

Marco Driessen gave an insight into the lighting design: “An important aspect for the ‘Groots met een zachte G’ concerts was that the audience had to experience the party mood and celebration. That’s why we chose this stage and lighting design to match the performer and stimulate the celebratory feeling of the occasion. The basic design was a tent sail that was custom made in three parts with a total surface area of 800m². Underneath the sail there was a 450m² 30mm Spider LED screen.”

Driessen continued: ”We mounted the trussing and lights, and used the outlines of the sail and video screen to reinforce the stage design. Also we used a lot of moving lights across the entire stadium to involve the audience and draw them in to the ‘party feeling’. We used special 100m long catwalks so that Guus could come even closer to his audience during the performance. The benefit of this stage and light design was that it was interesting during both day and night time.”

More than 450 Martin moving lights and a plethora of ETC Source Four Pars and Blinders were used for the show. Six Robert Juliat Lancelot followspots, 2 x Robert Juliat Heloise followspots and 2 x Robert Juliat Ivanhoe followspots were used for tracking Guus Meeuwis on stage – putting him in a perfect spotlight.

The sound and lighting equipment was supplied by Rentall and the video and LED screen by XL-Video/ Tenfeet. Sightline was responsible for the technical production.

About MA Lighting

MA Lighting International, based in Paderborn, Germany, is the dedicated sales, support and service entity for the renowned grandMA control systems, digital dimming systems, networking tools and media servers of MA Lighting Technology, based near Wuerzburg, Germany. The product range offers cutting-edge solutions for control and dimming, including the award-winning grandMA/grandMA2 consoles, the popular Lightcommander and reliable digital dimmer racks and packs. With its innovative MA Video Processing Unit (VPU) MA bridges the lighting and video worlds.
Today, MA Lighting is respected for its technical knowledge and has achieved a unique international reputation for its operational philosophy. The company offers 25 years experience and strictly follows a professional user-centric approach, getting as close as possible to the market via its own international offices and support centres in the UK, North America, Latin America, the Middle East/India, Asia Pacific and Scandinavia/Eastern Europe/Russia – supported by a world-wide distribution and service network.