It is an inevitable fact: the events industry is one of hardest hit by the current corona crisis. With the ban on major events until the end of August, the situation in the event industry will continue for quite some time. Venues, artists, cultural producers and manufacturers are fighting for survival in different ways. Clubs, companies and media in several countries have joined forces to support the club scene.
#unitedwestream expands from Berlin into the world
One project which is now active in several countries is the platform #unitedwestream. The cooperation of local clubs, ARTE Concert, radioeins and regional media partners shows in a livestream the whole range and variety of the vibrant club scenes in different cities. In addition to the live broadcast of DJ sets, live music and performances, United We Stream is also a platform for roundtable discussions, lectures and films on club cultural topics.
In Berlin, the project was launched in mid-March. In cooperation with ARTE Concert, the largest virtual club in the world was created. DJs and lighting designers have been bringing the atmosphere of the night into living rooms ever since. The proceeds from a Soli-Ticket will be used to support the respective clubs, artists and organizers. At the beginning of April, the platform began to expand and was launched as “United We Stream Global”. Other cities and regions in Germany and Europe, including Hamburg, Leipzig, Vienna and Greater Manchester, have joined the project to draw attention to local funding campaigns.
Visual support for Chauvet in Hamburg
In Hamburg, the project was supported by Chauvet Professionals in order to highlight the stream in a visually attractive way for the viewer. The team, led by lighting designer Sylvia Tara, known as Koyo by everyone, which was to put the DJs in the deserted Hambuger Club Uebel und Gefährlich in the right light, used a setup consisting of spotlights from CHAUVET Professional.
The eye-catcher was a huge cross-like construction that floated behind the DJs. The formation was realised with a total of twelve fixtures from the ÉPIX Strip IP series. Thanks to pixel mapping compatibility, these provided creative visualizations. In addition to the ÉPIX Strips, numerous Rogue R3 spots and Rogue R1 beams were used for illumination and to set the atmosphere. Furthermore, two CHAUVET Professional Maverick MK Pyxis were used.
https://youtu.be/Mc3_uMvsPQs
Sound&Co livestream in Belgium
United we stream is not the only project dedicated to saving the club scene – and supported by Chauvet. In Belgium, the rental company Sound&Co has set up an improvised livestream studio in its 1,200 square metre headquarters. Several talented DJs such as KAAPRISUN, Twallie, Lloyds and Sound of the Basement have already played there without an audience, but live via internet.
They are supported by a rig that is anchored with four CHAUVET Professional Rogue R2 Wash spotlights and operated with a ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console. “We wanted our lighting and scenic background to create the look and feel of a club or party,” said Jonas Bellemans, CEO of Sound&Co, who notes that the CHAUVET DJ Freedom Quad IP units were also used to illuminate the background of enclosures.
Bellemans and his team decided to convert part of their warehouse into a live stream studio shortly after the Belgian government announced the closure. “As a rental company we know a lot of DJs, so I called some of them with my idea,” he said. “They wanted to do the same thing as us, so it fit perfectly. At first we didn’t have a goal in mind, but after a live stream we all wanted to do more and reach more people, so we kept going. The live-streamed DJ performances were greeted with unbridled enthusiasm by an entertainment-hungry audience. A corporate client, who had to cancel a party due to the lockdown, asked Sound&Co to do an online version of the event with DJs but without guests. Every week Sound&Co and its DJs stream a themed virtual party. The most recent one was a “Cuba Night” where cocktails were delivered to households.
