The Ultra Music Festival cemented its place as the world’s premier electronic music
festival years ago. Held in Miami each March during Miami Music Week, Ultra is one of
the biggest dance music festivals on the planet and consistently features Elation
Professional lighting on its stages. The iconic music festival hits the road as well,
under the moniker Road to Ultra, and in September played two highly anticipated
shows in India, one of which included Elation Professional lighting gear supplied by
Elation partner Star Dimensions India Pvt Ltd.
Road to Ultra Mumbai, which took place at the Mahalakshmi Racecourse in Mumbai on
Sept 7th, was a historic event as it marked Ultra’s first show ever in India. While the
main festival in Miami sees multiple stages and hundreds of artists, the Road to Ultra
events are organised on a smaller scale with fewer artists and follow an arena format
with one stage. Still, the entertainment technology that backs the production makes
for a powerful experience not to mention the music lineup, which was quite
impressive. Duo sensation The Chainsmokers headlined, along with a cast of
supporting artists, many of which brought an Indian flavour into their sets.
Star Dimensions handled lighting and trussing for the event and turned to 12 Elation
Platinum SBX™ hybrid moving heads and Platinum Beam 5R™ beam effect moving
lights for what Ashish Mehta, director of Star Dimensions, described as an “out of the
box’ design. “We had the SBX fixtures on both a front bar and back bar truss,
creating mesmerising effects on stage and towards the audience while the Platinum
Beam 5Rs were used for nice mid-air gobo effects,’ Ashish Mehta explains. “We rigged
many 5R Beams across the stage, and sound tower extension and their sharp narrow
beam created a larger than life look.’
Star Dimensions has regularly had their inventory of Elation lighting out on many of
the top music events in India, including Justin Bieber’s 2017 shows, David Guetta’s
2017 Mumbai show, Sensation India, A State of Trance and many others. “We have
used Elation products for years and find them to be very reliable,’ Mehta stated. “They
stand up well to the tough conditions we often experience here in India, and they
have a performance to value ratio that is hard to beat. Road to Ultra was a great
opportunity for us as well as the EDM scene in India and Indian EDM lovers were
naturally eager to immerse themselves in the experience.’ Ashish Mehta and Star
Dimensions also provided technical support for the show, along with Syam Gopinath,
who executed the trussing and lighting plot.
The Road to Ultra event brought to Mumbai by Percept Live, might not have included
the entire Ultra package you’re used to seeing at Ultra Miami, but there wasn’t a dull
moment throughout the show. Mehta sends a special thanks to everyone from Percept
Live, especially Percept Live’s technical head Yogesh Malhotra, who stated, “We’ve
handled a lot of EDM events and DJ concerts in which Elation has been a part of the
rider – fixtures like the Platinum Beam 5R series, Platinum SBX and Elation LED Par
lights – and we have found them to be outstanding products.’
