Ion® at Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival

ETC's increasingly popular Ion® lighting control consoles have received rave reviews since several appeared at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland this August.

Simon Wilkinson used an Ion for the Fringe First Award-winning production Slick at the Traverse Theatre, a show produced by Vox Motus, in which actors' heads are superimposed on small puppet bodies. The show started its development in Glasgow before moving to Edinburgh, then going for a five-week tour around Scotland. Says Wilkinson, "Things like the mark feature and discrete channel timings saved so much effort in programming the desk. Presets made shifting between different venues a breeze."

Meanwhile, says Adrian Searle, Technical Manager for Stage Electrics -- the two Ions they rented to the Assembly Rooms were extremely well received. "In co-operation with ETC, we held a training day at the end of July, in readiness for the Festival throughout August. All the operators picked up the desk's operations quickly - which was handy, since the Ions were to be used all day every day, from 9:30 each morning to 2:30 the following morning. It was essential that all the operators were proficient in their use - they were really thrown in at the deep end. We had pleasing feedback, with users commenting on how intuitive and easy the desk is to operate."

Ion is ETC's newest control console, with much of the powerful functionality of ETC's Eos® system, but in a smaller, 19" footprint - perfect for the more confined spaces and budgets at many Fringe-like venues.