Canadian singer / songwriter Tamia played three dates on her recent South African
tour and for the two Johannesburg shows staged at the Carnival City Big Top Arena,
lighting was designed by Magz Schoeman who used Robe moving lights at the core of
her rig, including the venue’s new ROBIN Pointes.

Schoeman is Head of Lighting at Carnival City and lights many performers visiting
the venue, with a schedule that includes a steady flow of international artists.

For Tamia, Schoeman had free rein to come up with the design. Starting with the
music, which embraces multi genres including R”n’B, pop, hip hop soul, neo soul and
gospel jazz – and so has a huge dynamic range for lighting as well as the performance.

“R”n’B / pop gave me an image of lots of crystal pastel colours, gobos and texturing,
and flowing movement – it was great fun lighting the show,’ comments Schoeman.

The Robe fixtures in the Big Top Arena are part of the house lighting rig and include
the six new Pointes, eight LEDBeam 100s, eight LEDWash 300s, four LEDWash 600s and
six MMX Spots – all from Robe’s ROBIN range. These were used for various different
tasks in this show.

The design included four vertical truss sections across the back of the stage for
extra lighting position and to add some structure, plus side stage trusses in the air and a
front truss.

On the top section of each of the uprights were MMX Spots and Pointes and on the
middle sections – lower down – were the LEDBeam 100s and the LEDWash 300s.

The 600E Washes were on the flown side trusses and the remaining 300E Washes
on the front truss – together with some other moving lights.

The MMX Spots were used for their fabulous gobos, for creating beam-technology
looks and as band specials and to highlight solos, etc.

The Pointes were used for effects, gobos, beams and movement; the LEDBeam
100s for super-tight beam effects, key lighting and motion dynamics; and the ROBIN
300 and 600E Washes for general stage and band washing.

Schoeman’s favourite fixtures out of these are the MMX Spots for the crisp quality
of the lighting and the hard edged beam, the excellent colour range, the dual graphics
wheel and the gobo selection. It was the first time she had used the Pointes to light a
show, and describes their gobos as “awesome’ and the colours as “lovely’ together with
the intense beams.

She also likes the LEDWash 600s for their wide zoom and “eye-candy’ effects using
the individual LED ring control, and the little LEDBeam 100s for their speed and rich
colours.

Having the Robe moving lights in house at Carnival City is making a big difference
to the creativity and quality of the shows they can produce – both for their own
productions and visiting ones. Guest LDs are happy to learn that there are Robes in
residence … and Robes are frequently requested when discussing specs with LDs and
Lighting Directors.