Ireland’s largest events venue outside of Dublin, the INEC Killarney, has recently
purchased an Avolites Arena console as part of a major upgrade to the venue’s house
lighting rig and control system.
The sale of the British manufacturer’s largest and latest lighting console was made by
Avolites’ accredited UK reseller A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET). AC-ET
worked with the INEC Killarney to supply the new house rig and control network.
“The INEC Killarney has just installed over 100 ProLights LED moving heads and static
LED fixtures, plus a full conventional rig featuring ETC and ARRI units,” says the
venue’s house lighting designer, Kieran Somers. “We needed a console that had the
power and processing ability to run the new system. Often, I have to design full
lighting productions from scratch within very tight deadlines, so the console had to be
intuitive to allow me to design and program effectively.”
Avolites is known throughout the lighting sector as a leader in intuitive control
interfaces. Its consoles are both powerful and accessible to users and the brand’s own
software, Titan, is designed to allow a user to work in a visual way that best suits
them.
“I like the Arena’s quick-to-access interface,” says Somers. “It allows me to design
and program quickly and also means I can live-control and design rapid-fire events to
a very high standard.”
The Arena has the largest control surface in the Avolites console range. Alongside its
main touch screen, a second touch screen provides an additional workspace window
that also labels the screen’s adjacent macro buttons and rotary pots.
The fully assignable playback encoder pots allow intuitive control of channels and
effects. The six LCD screens display electronic legends for 30 faders, for speedy
access to playbacks, fixtures and palettes. A brand new optical output means the
Arena is equipped for fibre connections, an important feature for the venue, which
with a 3,000 capacity, demands a control infrastructure which maintains signal
integrity over long distances.
The Arena also offers Multi-User compatibility, allowing the console to be used as a
master, back-up or extra programming surface. This considerably reduces
programming time by allowing multiple Titan programmers to work simultaneously
before the main console takes charge.
“The Arena is so far ticking all the boxes,” says Somers. “I am looking forward to
exploring the console’s operating capabilities when we finally get some more down
time in the venue.”
Aaron Cripps, AC-ET’s Regional Sales Representative for Eire who dealt with the sale,
says “We’re pleased to be able to supply everything INEC needed, from our one-stop
portfolio of entertainment technologies. We pride ourselves on offering customers a
range of popular and leading brand solutions to choose from for their project – such as
Avolites – to suit differing applications, technical needs and budgets.”
The first artist to be supported with the INEC Killarney’s new rig and control set-up
was Spotify’s 2016 Artist of the Year and winner of Choice Music’s Song of the Year
prize, Gavin James.
The venue has also hosted national and international music stars including Tom Jones,
Snow Patrol, Kenny Rogers and The Script, whose lighting designer Jamie Thompson
is an avid Avolites user.
