The EOH Spring Ball, an outstanding banquet, was recently held at the Sandton Convention Centre’s Pavilion Venue in Sandton. The event was carefully orchestrated from the invitations to the final classical rock-themed production.

For the second consecutive year, AVL Productions supplied the technical including set and AV content while Keystone Productions provided the lighting requirements, which comprised 16 Philips Vari-Lite VLX fixtures.

Johannesburg based EOH, who provide business and technical solutions and systems, annually host a Spring Ball for their valued staff and clients. Sam McGrath from Jam Events was pivotal in putting it together and featured songs of Queen with a classical twist.

The MC on the night was South African Idols judge, Randall Abraham with entertainment provided by performers such as Joseph Clark, Lauren Laing and Brandon October.

AVL Productions’ Paul Hughes did the set design, sound and provided the AV content of the show while his colleague Verusca Di Zio was on duty as AVL’s Production Manager. In addition, Christopher Bolton from Keystone Productions worked his magic on the lighting design.

With back-to-back bookings at the venue, it was a one day load in and there was only one rehearsal at the venue prior to the show. Bolton spent 20 odd-hours pre-programming on MSD Visualizer.

“It was great to get everything set up and working in time,’ he said. “Paul Hughes and I discussed different looks and AV content – each show had its own music video. I programmed the lighting to compliment this. Because of the Philips Vari-Lite VLXs, I didn’t need generics. The VLXs were also used to focus on the choir and Christopher was clearly pleased with the end result.’

Bolton also stated that he enjoyed working at the venue because of the ceiling height. The trussing over the stage was 11m off the ground above the 16m x 4m screen.

“The ClayPaky Sharpies cut through the air in the venue. They were placed on the second level of the set, and shone just over the audience’s heads. He added. “I would also like to highlight the MDG Atmosphere APS. You simply can’t match its discreet yet visual presence – it is incredible how one machine can fill a venue of that size in a matter of minutes.’

Martin Mac 700s and Philips Vari-Lite VLX were placed on trussing over the stage. There were four fingers of trussing, each with 5 x Mac 700s and 4 x Philip Vari-Lite VLXs, which Bolton programmed on his Martin Maxxyz Compact.

Lighting Gear

16 x Philips Vari-Lite VLX

24 x Martin Mac 700s

24 x Martin Mac 101s

12 x ClayPaky Sharpys

1 x MDG Atmosphere

2 x Martin Maxxyz Compact