Anointed M strut their stuff at Vodacom Durban July

Organized by Gold Circle, this year’s race saw a capacity crowd of 50 000 flood Greyville Racecourse in Durban for one of the most fashionable events of the year. For the technical teams of Anointed M and PLED, it was the second year in a row that they had the privilege to strut their stuff at this prestigious and internationally recognized event.

International acclaimed fashion director and choreographer, Kevin Ellis, was full of praise for technical production and event management company Anointed M and PLED, which specializes in state-of-the-art LED screens. Ellis says, “It is so amazing to get to the July rehearsals and start on the actual scheduled time, with no technical delays or hold ups. I have been involved with the July for more than five years and never had the privilege to start on time, until Anointed M and PLED got involved. An added bonus is the quality of their service delivery and equipment, which I can only describe as thebest. The overall technical package - lighting, stage, screen and sound - compliments our production perfectly.”

The dual level SLPro mobile stage was set up next to the scoreboard and fitted with a 30m² LED screen boasting 10mm virtual pitch and weighing in at just more than 2.1 tons. It also supported the sound and lighting rig and from time to time had more than 25 visitors on the top deck, under the roof of the 10 x 5m marquee, providing them with a shaded, elevated view of the unfolding event. The SLPro was almost effortlessly supporting all of this in winds of up to 30 km/h. The 10 x 8m main stage deck was extended with an additional 50m², of which 30m² was used for the technical control suite. Video and audio signals were wirelessly transmitted and received from the stage roof via two independent systems.  PLED’s new 5.8ghz microwave links exceeded all expectations.  Signal was received from the 50m mark on the track, where all the early morning fashion action was presented. The imagery was then presented on the LED screen suspended from the stage roof and transmitted back for more than 360 meters to the fan park on the opposite far side of the track. Here the image was displayed on an 11m², 6mm virtual pitch LED screen. Anointed M also supplied a further 18 sound distribution points, which all received their audio feed via RF transmission through a Sennheiser system, with directional transmitters and receivers.  Altogether Anointed M covered more than 56 000m² with sound, using the Montarbo W17A and W440A full range speaker systems. These were complemented at the stage area with the Montarbo 218SA Dual 18inch Subwoofer units. An additional 76 LCD screens were supplied and installed in different marquees by PLED.

The combined 12 man team from Anointed M and PLED started with installation on the Tuesday. On Thursday evening, we facilitated the first full rehearsal without a single hick-up or glitch. This was also true for the event itself. Everything (from the traditional canter-down after the seventh race to the exquisite fashion show and prize giving ceremonies) was technically flawless and to the client’s exact specification.

Thanks to the revolutionary equipment used by both Anointed M and PLED, everything described in this article was removed from site in less than 18 hours after the event finished.

For more info, please visit www.vodacomdurbanjuly.co.za.