Tropic Glammies is Back with a Bang

Seat‐edge excitement was palpably present in the room at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena for the first Tropic skincare in‐person “Glammies” event to be staged since the pandemic.

Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) supplied a full production package – lighting, audio, video, screens, rigging and staging – working for producers, Pandora Events. Two days of build and two days of rehearsals preceded the one‐day event, with CPLs team of around 40 – at peak times – led by Lee Gruszeckyj.

The LED screen design set an epic tone, with two large portrait orientated slabs of Roe 5mm CB5 each measuring 7.2 by 9.6 metres upstage, and six different sized flown video cubes measuring 3.6, 2.4 and 1.8 metres respectively strategically positioned and flown. In total there were over 120 points of rigging on the project. All screens were driven by Brompton SX 40 processors over fibre with full redundancy. Behind and between the two main screens was a printed mesh Airtex event banner which was backlit with Robe Pointe moving lights for extra impact and to add depth. Bespoke video content was commissioned by CPL and created by Matt Taylor from Method in Motion, and programmed onto two disguise VX4 servers, and the screen management was controlled via two Barco E2 processors.

CPL brought Zeal Lighting onboard to deliver a complete package as most of their own lighting kit was busy on several other large jobs. A selection of moving lights included products from Ayrton, Martin and Robe which were all positioned on 12 overhead trusses, controlled via a grandMA2 console programmed and operated by Josh Maxwell and Ryan Dell. A large and brand‐new L‐Acoustics K2 sound system was supplied by Urban Audio with 12‐a‐side left and right main hangs complete with 12 x KS 8 Subs arrayed around the front of the stage, and 48 x KARAS as delays and side hangs. L‐Acoustics X8 monitors were deployed for front fills and the consoles were a DiGiCo 338 at FOH and a Yamaha CL5 for monitors.

The room was acoustic modelled in Sound Vision and the audio rig designed around the results to give the best and most effective and efficient coverage of high‐quality audio around the room for the best guest experience.

A selection of Shure Axient mics and DPA headset mics were available for presenters and speakers plus a full floor package of mics for Symphonic Ibiza.

cpl.tech

Photo © Tom Horton