Headquarters
Robe Subsidiaries
Business Development
ShowTech Productions – based in Riffa, Bahrain – has recently added to its extensive Robe moving light stock with the purchase of 12 x iFORTE LTX luminaires. Currently Robe’s most powerful hard-edged LED moving light, these were delivered by Robe Middle East in Dubai.
The company is a leading event production and technical services provider working across multiple sectors including concert touring, live events, and corporates. They also have a base in Saudi Arabia, and work across the GCC region.
These join several hundred Robe products including Spiiders, MegaPointes and BMFLs already owned by ShowTech, following steady investments in recent years. “Robe products have consistently been on all the international riders we have seen in the last 10 years” commented owner and CEO Lawrence Rodricks, adding that this plus the brand’s reputation for quality and well-made products has driven the purchases.
This was also the motivation for the first iFORTES to join the inventory.
ShowTech’s clients include the 10,000 capacity Dana Amphitheatre which is the main concert arena in Bahrain. Visited by numerous touring artists since its inauguration in 2018, it has helped put Bahrain on the international ME touring circuit.
“Typically, we will supply Robe moving lights for shows in this venue,” explained Lawrence, “The brand is very often on their specs already, and if it’s not, then lighting designers and directors are always happy to use Robe.”
The iFORTE LTXs utilise Robe’s newest LED innovations and the range is an obvious successor to the flagship BMFL series of the last decade – which are still going strong! These iFORTES are the first hard-edged LED luminaires for ShowTech.
With eight RoboSpot systems already part of the Robe inventory, this is another reason to have iFORTE LTX onboard as this fixture works perfectly as a remote-controlled follow spot as well as for general use, boosting the versatility of the purchase.
ShowTech’s chief lighting engineer Rasha Mihalek is equally as enthused about the arrival of the iFORTE LTXs, as he was pushing for them as well.
Rasha will design the lighting set up once an artist rider has been received, based on the kit available, which then goes back to the production LD or operator for approval. If it’s a touring show, sometimes they will bring in elements of their own production – typically a floor package – but invariably, ShowTech will supply full production - including audio and video - for all the Amphitheatre’s major shows, currently averaging two per month.
Lawrence is confident the iFORTES are a “great investment and an amazing, super bright, excellent quality and popular product that ticked all our boxes and also has value as a cross-rental item.”
The iFORTE LTX’s were delivered to ShowTech immediately after the recent SLS expo in KSA, and their first show will be the Scorpions (lighting designer Manfred Nikitser) whose rider contains 50 x iFORTES, complete with additional fixtures from dry hire specialist Perfect Ovation.
Lawrence and his team also underline the importance of and appreciate the excellent service and support available from Robe Middle East which is based in Dubai. Headed by general manager Elie Battah, the subsidiary provides next-level service to Robe customers and end-users across the Middle East and GCC.
ShowTech Productions was started in 2002 by Lawrence specifically to specialise in offering the very best show and event production values. Prior to that, Lawrence had cut his industry teeth at Maestro Music Equipment, an acclaimed music tech enterprise founded by his father Vincent in the 1980s.
Music has always been a big part of Lawrence’s life. Vincent was a drummer and DJ who then started renting out equipment, so Lawrence was born into the fabulous world of production technology and has inherited his father’s passion and zest for the industry, plus a commitment to ensuring audiences embracing all performance genres enjoy the thrill and excitement of the very best shows!
Photo Credit: Louise Stickland
Previous
Next
Perfect Ovation is a successful family-run company with a busy Dubai dry hire facility and a full production operation in Oman supplying lighting, sound, and LED screens to a diverse mix of shows and events.
Princess Cruises, a leader in worldwide cruising, has taken a major step toward sustainability and delivering outstanding live performances by upgrading the lighting rig in their 1000-seat Princess Theatre on the Crown, Emerald, and Ruby Princess ships. In a project completed in 2023, Princess Cruises Fleet Lighting Supervisor Matt DeJong and the Princess Entertainment Technical team selected Robe Lighting TE (TRANSFERABLE ENGINE) fixtures, ushering in a new era of LED lighting technology to enhance the cruise line's entertainment offerings.
Gigant is an arts and performance complex in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, comprising two theatre spaces, a movie house, recording studios, a music venue (popzaal) and a café, an invigorating creative space where people can soak up multiple types of performance, expression, live entertainment and storytelling.
The Royal Theater Carré (Koninklijk Theater Carré) is an attractive Neo-Renaissance style theatre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands located on the banks of the river Amstel. Founded in 1887, it was originally built as a permanent venue for the Carré circus family and their popular ‘horse-play’ circus-theatre shows, but was later repurposed to also stage a variety of performances, revue theatre and operettas. Currently, the impressive circular design 1700-capacity auditorium is used for a mix of musicals, pop and music concerts and cabaret shows.
All rights reserved. Created by Appio
ROBE Lighting uses cookies. We use cookies to personalise content and ads and to analyse our traffic. Please see “More about cookies” to learn more about how they are used on our website. Click “I agree” to activate them or “Close and just use cookies not requiring consent” if you do not want them. You can change your settings on "Cookies" in the footer at any time.