ShowPRO Gear Powers Through Fire, Wind and Rave at Melbourne’s Asteria Outdoors Festival 2025: Tales of the Crystal Realm

The pulsating heart of Melbourne’s hard dance music scene came alive at Burnley Park as the “Asteria Outdoors Festival 2025: Tales of the Crystal Realm” delivered an unforgettable night for 7,500 revellers. Fueled not just by six international EDM acts, but by a weather-defying ShowPRO lighting rig that delivered power, punch and pixel perfection in equal measure; reputed solutions co On Track Lighting (OTL) found themselves at the helm of lighting up the festival experience – challenges galore in tow.

When original plans for a tented venue were scrapped due to permitting issues, On Track Lighting stepped up with a fully outdoor solution—one that had to withstand scorching 37°C heat, 50km/h wind gusts, and the occasional rainfall. And at the heart of it all was OTL’s latest ShowPRO acquisition (made through Show Technology Australia & New Zealand – the official representatives of ShowPRO in the region), nine DiamondBack fixtures, which played a pivotal visual role. This super-bright RGBW beam with a 3°–56° zoom was deployed in a linear configuration along the front of the stage, creating mesmerising pixel traces and strobe effects.

“The idea was to create sheaths of light,” explained Paul Nardella, Managing Director of OTL. “The wind made it hard to hold haze onstage, but that was the concept.”

Providing the backbone of the lighting impact were 48 units of the ShowPRO H1 Beam/Spot/Wash fixtures, mounted high on a 14-metre scaffold stage structure built by Clifton’s. Each H1, lightweight yet packed with features, contributed to bold, gobo-driven aerial effects. “The idea was to get them up high just to create big gobo looks,” informs Nardella. “We had crazy big gobo looks, which looked amazing.”

Complementing the H1s, 24 units of the IP65-rated ShowPRO Collider FC Strobes did the heavy lifting in delivering dynamic strobe bursts, colour washes and motion effects—all without the need for weather shielding. “They’re incredibly bright; they’re probably up in the top five of brightest strobes on the market,” remarked Nardella. “We ran CMY colour mixing across the H1s and Colliders, and during the day, used a Resolume media server to pixel-map the Colliders and DiamondBacks. Whatever the VJ was doing, the whole rig followed that colour content—it looked great and took the pressure off the LD during daylight.”

Adding to the classic rock aesthetics were 18 units of the ShowPRO LED Blinder II fixtures, which Paul praised for delivering the nostalgic punch of traditional blinders without the legacy hassles. Meanwhile, 56 units of the ShowPRO Fusion PARs were deployed for site lighting, illuminating trees and peripheral areas to enhance the ambience of the outdoor venue.

Despite the challenging weather, the event received glowing reviews, and OTL’s all-ShowPRO rig made a lasting impression. “After Asteria was done, the lighting designer for another key festival hit me up and said he wanted the same rig!” said Nardella. “A few days later, it was already back up and running at the next show.”

With the kind of resilience, flexibility and show-stopping visuals that only ShowPRO can deliver, Melbourne’s EDM fans didn’t just survive the elements—they danced right through them.