Voting in the world’s biggest DJ poll, DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs, began on July 21st and runs throughout the summer until September 19th. For the second year running, the voting is being accompanied by the Top 100 DJs Virtual Festival – a ten-week showcase of the world’s leading DJs from across the planet. The virtual festival first launched in 2020, in response to the pandemic and the closure of the global nightlife and event industry, when a host of big-name DJs recorded exclusive online sets that were viewed more than 10 million times. The 2021 Top 100 DJs Virtual Festival series will run throughout the summer until voting closes for this year’s poll, with new video sets released each Saturday and Sunday on DJ Mag’s YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch channels.
One of the first performances to be released in the 2021 festival series was from electronic dance music producer, songwriter and DJ, Mick Kastenholt, better known by his stage name, KAAZE. To produce his virtual festival performance, KAAZE’s management brought in Robin Johannesma and his company RJ Music Show Equipment based in The Netherlands. Established for over 10 years, RJ Music provides full-service audio, lighting, and video production as well as project management for all kinds of live events. The company’s highly creative team has also designed tours for a number of high profile EDM artists, and Robin toured with KAAZE prior to the pandemic, which meant that he had a good feel for his music and artistic vision.
“I spoke directly to Mick and he told be that he was looking for an industrial vibe and that he was fed up of livestreaming so wanted to do something ‘next level’ for his DJ mag set,” Robin explains. “He wanted more of a cinematic vibe, so that it would stand out as different from a regular livestream. To achieve this, we decided not to use any static cameras, always keeping the shots dynamic, while also including lots of closeups. We also switched things up, so went for a light and bright look instead of the usual dark club feel. However, we still wanted lighting to add beams and effects to keep the video visually interesting. That’s where our new Vizi Beam 12RX fixtures from ADJ really came in, as they are bright enough to punch through even when it’s not that dark.”
Having initially invested in around 20 ADJ LED par fixtures, during a period of rapid growth prior to the pandemic, RJ Music planned to make a significant investment in ADJ lighting equipment in Spring 2020. This was understandably postponed, however still went ahead at the beginning of this summer. The company added to its rental stock both Vizi Beam 12RX and Vizi Wash Z19 moving head luminaires as well as 7P HEX IP and 32 HEX Panel IP static LED wash fixtures.
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