The latest series of Italian talent show Nuova Scena - Rhythm + Flow Italia – which scouts out some of the best rising star rappers – kicked off to an electric start with a launch party staged at famous Milan live music venue and nightspot, Fabrique, complete with a dazzling lightshow created, programmed and delivered by Sergio Cattaneo of design studio Cue s.r.l.

Fabrique has a complete Robe moving light rig installed, featuring over 150 moving lights – a mix of FORTES, MegaPointes, LEDBeam 150s, Spiiders, TetraXs, Tetra2s, PAINTES and Pointes all supplied by Robe’s Italian distributor, RM Multimedia through the venue’s resident in-house technical provider, For Sound.

Sergio made the most of all these fixtures, and additional LEDBeam 350s further augmented the lighting rig with 24 x Robe SVB1s and four HolyPATTS, supplied as ‘specials’, together with all the additional technical production needed to make this event rock, also supplied by the rental division of For Sound.

Sergio was asked to design lights for this high-profile launch event by creative agency La Tarma. The evening was essentially a party with DJ sets plus additional live performances by Nuova Scena contestants and judges.

Some of the scenic elements onstage – e.g. the judge’s desk – were inspired by the TV show. A large upstage LED screen was flanked by two smaller side stage LED screens and goal-post trusses, and all the event’s technical production was co-ordinated by Live Nation.

Sergio has lit multiple shows in Fabrique and always enjoys working there as it is full of Robe fixtures. He is a big advocate for Robe products and has been using them since the early days of the XT and AT series, way back when the brand originally launched!

Always inquisitive and interested in new tech, he jumped at the chance to use the SVOPATTS and HolyPATTS, both for the first time, to assist in shaping this show, which needed to be lively and edgy in style.

The SVB1s were positioned on the upstage / overstage trusses, and Sergio was very satisfied with the results. “It’s a beautiful and a very useful fixture,” he commented, noting that it delivers very “interesting“ aerial effects, especially from rear-rigged positions, both when on minimum zoom and using the central LED.

He appreciated the difference in optics between the central pixel and the outer LED ring and used this interplay with great impact, stating that the plano-convex lens “is carefully thought-through and designed, making the fixture ideal for aerial effects and beam tracking.”

The four HolyPATTS were positioned and used for creating a specific texture of background light with very distinctive characteristics behind the DJ and judges – something that looked and felt “iconic and radiant, but simultaneously with ‘hollow’ or open areas to let other light beams cut through,” he explained.

All this visual treatment helped ramp the upbeat vibes, vibrance and excitement of the evening!

For Sergio, Robe is always among his first choices for specs and lighting plots. “I have great respect for Robe as a brand, the products are robust, innovative and offer so many possibilities for lighting all places, spaces and environments,” he concluded.