VIVA Hoevenaars

posted:

01/09/2017

Thijs Marques (Hoevenaars Marketing), Jeroen van Aalst (Controllux – Robe Benelux distributor), owner Patrick Hoevenaars and co-founder and first employee, John de Graaf

Twenty-four of the latest Robe VIVA CMY moving lights – launched at Prolight+Sound in April – were delivered to Dutch rental company Hoevenaars based in Nuenen, together with 24 x Spiider LED wash beams. Owner Patrick Hoevenaars explained that they have a long association with Robe which started when they were installing lighting rigs in clubs and discos back in the days of the XT series and in fact even before then, when Robe was still an OEM manufacturer! So they have always been aware that the kit is robust, reliable and well-built.

After this, the company worked with a competitor brand for a while, before investing in some LEDWash 300s in 2014. Around this time there was a noticeable rise in Robe being requested as the moving light of choice by the lighting designers and directors with whom they were working.

This latest purchase puts them firmly back on the map with Robe … and the reason is simple, says Patrick … “The market is demanding it”.

“The fact is … that everyone is asking for and specifying Robe, it’s a great product to have, so we have made this initial investment,” he confirmed.

As well as deploying the new fixtures on their own productions, it was also a smart move for Hoevenaars for cross rental potential, especially with other major Dutch rental companies all based around the same area.

They had been looking for a CMY LED spot for some time, so when the VIVA CMY was launched in Frankfurt, the time was right. Patrick is impressed with the brightness and clarity of the fixture and also the versatility. “We need fixtures that are multi-functional and multi-purpose – units that can be used to light anything from a banging dance event to a decorous corporate dinner. All round usefulness is top of the agenda”.

Patrick, also a working sound engineer, admits that he is still “a noise boy at heart” but as CEO of this busy full production company says that all the talk has been about the Spiider since its launch in the fall of 2016. “It’s a great wash light and workhorse fixture and all our lighting techs love them”.

The 48 x fixtures were delivered by Robe’s Benelux distributor Controllux. It was a big financial investment for an SME company like Hoevenaars and is linked to their ROI strategy for the next two years … so it was a measured and considered decision which has pleased everyone!

The company has made a conscious decision to offer only premium brands to clients, so on the audio side this includes Adamson, L-Acoustics, DiGiCo, etc. and for lighting control they have MA and Road Hog options.

The Spiiders were immediately used on a 2-day 5000 capacity party in the Brabanthallen, Den Bosch where they easily made an impact shooting all the way down the 80 metre long arena right from the back. The first day featured a line-up of Dutch artists, while the second was a collection of 90s Scooter-style artists with lots of bouncy pop tunes! The Spiiders were also used on a Kings Day show in Eindhoven City Square.

Hoevenaars has a full season of outdoor events booked for the summer and both the newly arrived VIVAs and the Spiiders will be keeping busy in the coming months!

Patrick sees Robe “in the top five” moving light brands worldwide right now. “They have really advanced rapidly in the last three years,” he comments.

Hoevenaars was founded in 2000 by Patrick Hoevenaars who started his industry career as a DJ and sound engineer. The company now has 24 full time employees and provides full technical services – lighting, sound, video, rigging and staging – to a wide range of shows and events all over the Netherlands.