Robe Does It Gangnam Style for Psy Concerts

The first was a one off concert for 8000 fan club members at the Seoul Stadium in Jamsil. The second, two days later, was a set at the City Hall in Seoul Plaza, enjoyed by 80,000 people who enjoyed a lively show including Psy’s block-busting international number one, Gangnam Style.

The Gangnam Style video that instantly achieved cult status has amassed over 500 million views on You Tube alone, over two million of which were in the first two months of release! So ….. the lighting was vital in creating the right vibe onstage for both of the shows. It needed to be potent and imaginative to match everyone’s high visual expectations.

These were chosen for their brightness and versatility. LiteFactory, owned by Mr Doochul Shin, has a large stock of Robe fixtures in its rental fleet and has been a loyal advocate of the brand for around 10 years – dating back to the days of the Spot 575 XT!

Myeong Soo Kim also programmed and operated lighting for the concerts using grandMA and Avolites consoles. He has attended various regular lighting workshops and training sessions run by LiteFactory throughout his career, which have showcased Robe’s technology and so is very familiar with the brand.

He is particularly excited by the flexibility and huge range of options offered by MMX Spot and regularly uses these enthusiastically in combination with LEDWash 600s.

The lighting for the two Psy concerts was hung on a series of over-stage trusses and trussing above a ramp extending out from the stage, bringing the star (real name Park Jae-sang) right out into the audience much to their delight! There were also some fixtures on the stage deck.

Myeong Soo Kim used the Robes to the max - lots of beam technology, gobo and animation work with the MMXs - contrasted with rich, dynamic colour washes from the LEDWashes bathing the stage in a rich palette of colours, from the deepest of saturates to the most delicate pastels.

He also made much use of the LEDWash’s excellent selection of colour-corrected whites for the starter and more assertive numbers in the set.

He loves the smooth motorised zoom of both the MMX and the LEDWash 600. He also appreciates the speed of the fixtures and the general reliability of Robe.

Myeong Soo Kim was using a customised version of the LEDWash 600 – the LEDWash 600+ - with an extended zoom ranging between 8 and 63 degrees. This is the first time that Robe’s Korean distributors ArtTech Lighting had made this fixture available for use on such large scale and high profile shows.

The concerts were both a massive success and were broadcast to a wider audience  on public TV channel SBS a few days later, with highlights also being another vital hit on You Tube … and Gangnam Style continues to take the world by storm …….