Israeli singer-songwriter Hanan Ben-Ari is currently one of the most popular artists in a country replete with singing talent, and his new tour has just started, complete with a lively and dynamic visual design by Nesi Alfasi, who has included 12 x Robe MegaPointes at the core of the lighting rig.

These are being supplied to the tour by rental company Mega Kol and headed by Zvika Refaelovich, which has been involved with the artist as an equipment vendor since last year and has worked with LD Nesi for many years on assorted projects.

Hanan Ben-Ari’s tour features a 3-metre diameter circular LED surface upstage made up of over 3000 smart pixels in strips which are mapped into a series of different shapes and graphic effects throughout the set, providing a digital element that is different from a standard video playback screen.

8 of the MegaPointes are rigged on the back truss, with 4 positioned on the floor upstage of the band … and their sheer brightness and intensity make them a dominant fixture on the rig.

Nesi loves the brightness and all the features together with the flexibility just 12 units can bring to a dynamic show like this.

At the start of his professional lighting career, he regularly used various other moving light brands, and as Robe became more prominent and available globally, he spec’d and used it a lot more, starting back in the ColorSpot and ColorWash 1200E AT (watch) days.

“It was a strong and very unique light” at the time, he commented. “Robe has proved itself for producing reliable and hard-working lights which bring a lot of possibilities to any show” he stated.

He highlighted the fact that Israel is a challenging country for technologies like moving lights as much of the entertainment industry work is outdoors and in hostile conditions – wind, dust, rain, and excessive heat can all be daily factors, but “the Robe products always stand up well in harsh conditions.”

He is pleased to have seen the brand grow over the last decade, and he also often uses Spiiders and LEDBeam 150s in his current designs.

Mega Kol’s first Robe purchase was 12 x Pointes in 2015, and they followed up last year with 12 x MegaPointes, which was because they were becoming so frequently requested by LDs, explained Zvika, and also due to the “completely stellar” service that they receive from Robe’s Israeli distributor, Danor Theatre and Studio Systems.

Mega Kol works primarily in the music and corporate sectors. They started investing in Robe because they wanted a premium moving light brand onboard, and this has in turn opened new business opportunities to the company … including winning clients like Hanan Ben Ari.

Zvika underlined that the Pointe and MegaPointe investment has been good for the company: “all my LD friends love these fixtures for their light weight and versatility. The optics are good, and they have become the ‘default’ moving light for some of the dinner events and awards shows that we do in certain venues around the country”.

It’s also always interesting for Zvika to see how the different designers and programmers will use the MegaPointes, each time finding something new and fresh! In fact, the lights are never in the shop, which is exactly as it should be for a value-added rental item.

Hanan Ben-Ari’s tour celebrates his third studio album and will run for at least two years. The first gig was at the prestigious Charles Bronfman Auditorium (Heichal HaTarbut) in Tel Aviv for which Nesi added another 12 MegaPointes to the rig as well as Mega Kol’s 12 x Pointes.

Images by Louise Stickland

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