Chase & Status Count on Robe LEDBeam 100s

	Robe LEDBeam 100s on the Chase & Status festival circuit

High-energy UK drum and bass duo Chase & Status have taken the European festival circuit by storm this summer, with an amazing lightshow designed by Neil Carson, based on a floor specials rig of over 160 lights -- including 60 Robe LEDBeam 100s at its core.

Forty of the LEDBeams are attached to two custom pre-rigged trussing dollies wheeled onstage for lightning-quick deployment behind the band, forming what the company calls a retina-burning "wall-of-death" effect.

The other 20 LEDBeam 100 fixtures are rigged ten each on two five-meter high towers positioned either side of the stage flanking the LEDBeam dollies in the middle. The high-impact effects that Carson has created with the LEDBeam 100 wall has impressed many, particularly due to the miniscule size of the units, which make them ideal for being toured in large quantities while taking up very little truck space.

The design also utilizes eight Robe LEDWash 600s on the floor, used for low-level, subtle key lighting on the band and their various guest artists. These plus all the rest of the lighting equipment is being supplied by leading Blackburn, UK-based lighting and visuals rental company HSL.

Carson specified the LEDBeams because they were said to be perfect for the job -- small, bright, very light, and fast. He has regularly used Robe products in his work for some time, but first used LEDBeam 100s more recently on a project at the Central School of Speech & Drama, where he was invited to present a seminar on "Lighting Live Music." HSL supplied a selection of equipment for him to demonstrate to the students.

"I really liked the speed and the definition of the LEDBeams," he confirms. Adding that the color mixing is also "excellent' and that it is "very important to me to see a solid color coming out of the front of the fixture." This is a technique that the company says Robe has fine-tuned in the light engines of all its LED products.

The tiny amount of power drawn by a LEDBeam 100 also means that a substantial number of fixtures can be run together without needing any special power requirements.

The company notes another advantage is that even with 60 bright moving lights onstage, the cool running and reduced heat output ensures that temperatures stay pleasant and workable. This is a key consideration for artists playing in traditionally hot environments like festival tents.

Carson asked Cate Carter on-board as lighting director to run some of the Chase & Status shows that he was unable to do himself due to other previously confirmed commitments. It was the first time she had used LEDBeam 100s, but really appreciated their quality and power as visual tools. "They are really bright, and the range of textures and looks that Neil has produced with them is fabulous," Carter comments.

Chase & Status's next single "Count On Me" is scheduled for release at the end of September, followed shortly after by third third studio album Brand New Machine.

See Robe at PLASA Focus: Austin, September 10-11.