Over 80 Robe moving lights proved they were real winners in an eye-catching design by LD Tom Kenny for the 2008 Meteor Irish Music Awards, staged at the RDS in Dublin last weekend, produced by Caroline Downey and Louis Harte for MCD and broadcast on national TV channel RTE in a special programme directed by Niamh White.

All lighting for the celebrity clad event honouring the very best in contemporary Irish music, was supplied by Dublin rental company Just Lite.

The show was presented by comedian Dara O' Briain, and featured performances by 11 leading artists including Westlife, Shane Ward, the newly reformed Boyzone, Sinead O'Connor, Scouting For Girls, Tom Baxter, Cathy Davey and others.

Robe fixtures very much took centre stage for the Awards, a mix of ColorSpot  and ColorWash 1200E ATs and 700E ATs which were arranged across four trusses and operated by Darragh McAuliffe using a WholeHog Full Boar console. Another Full Boar, run by Nick Maldon, drove a Catalyst media server and all the projection screen content. Kenny, McAuliffe and Maldon all worked closely with set designer Alan Farquharson to develop a modern visual look for the show based on clean lines and a clear space with a few twists of glamour.

The trussing on which the Robes were hung consisted of an oval shaped piece and a large V shaped truss with 40 ft forks, which were both central and in front of the stage area, plus a 60 ft, 45 degree angled back truss hung over the stage. For side stage lighting, an additional 16 ColorSpot and ColorWash 1200E ATs on drop bars were added to the most onstage ends of two 140 metre trusses running the length of the auditorium and also used to rig audience lights.

Upstage on the stage floor were more Robes - 20 ColorSpot 700E ATs and 8 ColorWash  1200E ATs - used for fanning effects and intense low-level back light looks which looked particularly effective on camera.

Kenny - one of the industry's top international LDs whose regular clients include David Bowie and The Who - needed the rig to be as dynamic as possible. It had to look great on TV as well as for the live audience and each of the 11 performing artists and bands had to have their own distinctive and unique look - so the lighting had to be worked hard to make it happen.

Just Lite's crew of 10 for the in and out and 7 to run the show were co-ordinated by crew chief Liam McCarthy. Tom Kenny comments, "The event was a huge success due to Liam and The Boys from Just Lite being their usual brilliant selves, and the extreme customer service from owners The Smith Brothers". The rest of the crew were Brendan Swanton, Douglas McConnon, Nigel "Skippy" Monk, Nick Malbin, Ray Whelan, Larry Glynn, John Ryan, Mark Hanna and Nicole Lattimore.

Just Lite has the largest Robe stock of any rental company in Ireland and has lit the Awards for the last 7 years, however this was the first time they had used their new Robe 700 Series fixtures that were purchased towards the end of 2007.  Previous to this show, Liam McCarthy had used the 700s on the TV music show "Other Voices" and has found them "Excellent, very reliable and very bright". On the Meteor Awards, all the fixtures were run full tilt for 14 - 16 hours during the two rehearsal days without a hitch, so the 700s were certainly put through their paces.

In addition to the Robes, Just Lite provided a large generic rig, supplementary moving lights to illuminate the audience and architectural lighting for the exterior of the venue. The new Full Boar consoles were 2 of the first 10 off the production line.

The 2008 Meteor Irish Music Awards saw the omnipresent Westlife winning the Best Pop Band category for the 8th year running. They collected the trophy and later in the show performed a special song, "Us Against The World" to the delight of the crowd. Other winners included Cathy Davey for the Best Irish Female and the Saw Doctors, who received a Lifetime Achievement award.