dB Audio Namibia Makes Some Noise with New Robe Spiiders

	l-r: Leena Tjithunga, Geraldo Papo (center), Gillroy Barmann, and Natangwe Petrus Ndenge

dB Audio in Namibia has continued its investment in Robe moving lights with the recent purchase of 12 Spiider LED wash beams ... added to their inventory of over 150 Robe moving lights, the largest Robe stock in Namibia.

The lights were supplied by DWR's distributor for southern and central Africa, DWR and are the latest addition in a steady commitment to the brand which dates back 13 years by dB Audio.

Owner and founder David Benade started the company in 2004, initially as an audio supplier, however it soon made sense to offer other production disciplines like lighting and rigging. At that point, audio was his specialist area, a competitor moving brand was dominant in the region, and, being a start-up, budget was tight!

Benade started researching and scouting around what might be a rising star lighting brand with a good future, a "one-to-watch," and Robe popped up again and again. His sources described Robe as having a solid OEM manufacturing history and the capability of developing quality, well-built products.

So he decided to take the plunge and buy Robe. The first pieces of kit were two AT series 575 Spots. "I've not looked back since that day," declares Benade.

Benade recalls how it was a big decision at the time, "But one that's totally paid off for our company and our market. Robe has given us fantastic support over the years and it's been really gratifying to see their hard work pay off and make them a market leader."

dB Audio was in fact so busy for the last two months of 2017 that they pulled out all their older Robe purchases including the original 575 Spot ATs and several XT Series scanners.

Since 2010 -- the launch of the LEDWash 600 and a turning point for Robe's own product strategies, dB has invested in all the major product releases, including the LED Wash series, LEDBeam 100s and 1000s, and more recently Pointes and BMFLs.

There's also the fact that the cross rental market in Namibia is limited, and to hire extra kit from South Africa can be phenomenally expensive due to the transport costs, so the idea has also been to try and be as self-sufficient as possible with good equipment.

So when it came to purchasing some new LED washes, Spiiders were an obvious choice as specified by the dB lighting team led by Gillroy Barmann who comments, "Our Robe LEDWash series fixtures have worked extremely hard, so it was time to invest in the latest versions and take some pressure off the older stock."

"It's an incredible fixture with excellent output and plenty of flexibility at a good price...and it's also going to be relevant for some time!" states Benade.

The first job for the new dB Audio Spiiders was the Windhoek Jazz Festival in Independence Stadium, Windhoek (LD Ramon le Roux). dB's Barmann and Geraldo Papo then used them for the Hunter's Roadshow, a high profile party in Ongwediva in the north of Namibia for the top SA cider brand...which needed to look fantastic. Ramon Le Roux included them again in his design for international singer Joss Stone's one off performance at the Warehouse Theatre in Windhoek.