Words like “upbeat” and “ebullient” come up often in reviews of KC Lights’ songs. It’s easy to understand why too. With its bright bursts of energy and soaring crescendos, his pioneering brand of house/techno music invariably lifts spirts, whether on or off the dancefloor. Perhaps this is why his release “Girl” became the unofficial anthem for locked out and house-bound clubbers in 2020, connecting them to better, pre-pandemic times. In the process, it also helped push his all time streams past 100 million.
With lockdown restrictions eased, the Scottish born artist has once again been able to connect to fans in person. The long hiatus has done nothing to diminish the energy level and fan connection at KC Lights’ live shows, as evidenced by his performance on Night Two of the Belsonic Festival, where the crowd seemed to be dancing in the air to his kinetic music.
Contributing to the euphoria was a bursting-with-energy lightshow by Anthony Hazelden that soared with the star’s music note-for-exhilarating note. Animated by flashing video panels and towering aerials, the sweeping panorama filled the entire set with nonstop visual excitement.
Hazelden powered his dynamic 12-universe show with a ChamSys PC Wing running on a 15-inch MacBook Pro. “The ChamSys PC Wing is one of the best things I ever invested in,” he said. “It has traveled the world with me, as it fits into a 1510 Peli case. Thanks to its power, I can deliver a big show anywhere.”
Busking his entire show, Hazelden came to the festival prepared with a show file that covered multiple fixture types. This allowed him to morph his file to fit the rig at the site, a process that he accomplished within 30 minutes
“Typically, all of my main intensity groups, movement FX groups, strobes, blinders and global BPM chases will fit on one page,” said Hazelden, explaining his approach to running shows. “Then I’ll use my ChamSys Execute Pages for all my colour FX. I found that this is really a good way to operate the desk, as it eliminates the need to switch pages and look for certain cues.
“Another really nice thing for me is the Morphing/Cloning feature in ChamSys,” he continued. “It allows me to adapt and change my show file every show without have to start a new file and reprogram everything. Instead of taking hours, this can all happen in minutes. I like to save time.”
Speaking of time… it was indeed a precious commodity for Hazelden during the Belsonic Festival, where his busked show moved at a frenetic pace. Key to setting that speedy tempo was the intense flow of video images from the large walls on either side of the stage and in the front of the DJ stand. All of the video concepts were created by Hazelden and sent to his animator for content creation.
“For KC Lights at Belsonic, we want to keep video displays relatively simple, with lots of lines and block strobe features,” said Hazelden. “The idea behind this plan was to have screens run content without being the main feature of the show, but still have the ability to add extra kick for drops or other peak moments. I tend to treat video walls almost as a massive strobe, running the screens at full brightness on white.
“At Belsonic, this really complimented the look when the confetti was fired,” he continued. “The screens lit up the confetti, which set a perfect scene for shooting videos and for taking photos. I used Resolume Arena 7 for video playing, because it allows me to take control from my ChamSys desk via ArtNet to send commands for strobing and color rendering. The integration of Resolume with ChamSys is very straight forward.”
Also streamlining Hazelden’s work at Belsonic was the ChamSys Linked Palette feature, which allowed him to make busking FX and colour chases quickly and easily without having to go and update every cue.
“Being able to execute these changes instantaneously in real time is priceless when you’re busking,” said Hazelden. “A show like this one is very much in the moment for me just as it is for the fans.”
And on this night in Belfast, those fans were hoping that the moment of music and light could last forever.
