Amsterdam-based live experience design studio, Live Legends, has delivered the full production design and implementation – including lighting, video / visual, laser, scenic and related 360º interior elements plus equipment specification, programming, and commissioning – for the brand-new 1,200 capacity nightclub OT Cities Gui in Nanning, China.
A Live Legends creative team led by principal designer and show director Daan Oomen, set designer Stefan Peters and senior lighting director Serge Patist specified 270 Robe moving lights – comprising 34 MegaPointes, 94 Pointes, 60 Viva CMYs and 74 LEDBeam 150s – to be signature fixtures in the stylish innovative venue, right at the core of the lighting design.
“Our goal was to bring the beautiful culture of this minority to a new audience and mix it with modern technology to connect Zhuang history, via the ‘OT Cities’ brand, with a switched-on audience of millennials and generation Z,” explained Daan, adding, “The quest is to amaze and surprise nightclub guests and basically introduce them to new, much deeper and more engaging levels of clubbing.”
The prominent deployment of the Robe components around the club is intrinsic to the impact of the show story.
The 34 MegaPointes are rigged at the back of the stage, in the small arches running down the centre of the room, and, most importantly, one in each circular pod centre. They were picked for their power, clarity, quality and because of the many options they bring to any environment.
The 94 Pointes are on the larger arches that elegantly characterise the space, as well as above the various dance stages dotted around the room and along the sides covering all the biggest areas in beam effects. “Their brightness, versatility and high-impact were perfect for the job,” stated Daan, adding that beams are currently very trendy in China, and a must-have for any club space. These optimally positioned Pointes and MegaPointes blast in and across the 40-metre-long by 26-metre-wide room spectacularly from multiple angles.
60 Robe Viva CMYs are rigged on the large arch around the stage, a strategically important visual gateway between the stage and audience areas, and one of the most important lighting positions in the whole design.
Another versatile fixture was needed here that contrasted to the beam-orientated Pointes and MegaPointes, so the Viva CMY was chosen for its good zoom and solid gobo options, as well as the compact size.
The 76 LEDBeam 150s are rigged vertically up the pillars around the room and above the spiral staircases. The small size and incredible dynamics of this little fixture mean that it can be used virtually anywhere and fit into any gap!
OT Nanning presented many challenges during its installation, the largest perhaps being coronavirus travel limitations.
Daan and a team of about nine or 10 – including video content producers, art directors, visualiser programmers, etc – would normally be on-site several times during the build period and constantly in the last 10 days prior to opening, but, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, this was not possible for this project.
Serge Patist, Stefan Peters and lighting designer and programmer Bas Knappers travelled to China, quarantined, and then worked alongside the client’s team.
Summing up the project, Daan commented: “This project has been incredible! In times of a global crisis, it is even more important to stay connected, both with each other and also with our culture and identity, so to be able to take the alluring origins of the Guangxi people and turn it into a nightclub experience for a future generation is a great honour.
“We are very privileged to have a partner in China who understands the importance of telling stories over talent buying, and who lets us do what we do and like best … which is to put these stories on a live stage!
“The Xiuqiu embroidered balls stand for happiness, and that’s exactly what we aspire to deliver for this club design. Nine months of hard work have finally paid off and our guests are taking on a journey of epic proportions!
“With help from the Nanning team and our international partners, we could get the best out of both worlds and build something special. To have Robe with us on this journey is really bringing the show and the design to a ‘next level’ in terms of production and it puts OT Cities Gui in the top tier of clubs across Asia and arguably worldwide!”
The combination of The Noa Group’s and Live Legends’ vision, application and hard work and the impact of the Robe fixtures results in a world-class club experience beaming with rich culture and history, set up to be enjoyed for generations to come.
