Now or Never: Novatech Brings ROE Visual to World Heritage-listed Stage

Now or Never, a new major festival in Melbourne, Victoria, took place at the Royal Exhibition Building, one of only a few World Heritage Sites in Australia. This historic venue had not hosted any major contemporary music events for over 20 years, until Now or Never (NoN) brought awe-inspiring and adventurous performances to Melbourne. The stage was graced with the presence of ROE Visual V8T and powered by Brompton SX40 and 2 x XD, adding a touch of modernity to the timeless venue.

The NoN team appointed Gig Control Australia who together created an impressive 16m high and 6m wide screen that perfectly matched the venue’s size. “We are transforming this heritage-listed building into a venue of the future,” says Elise Peyronnet, NoN Artistic director. “We are building a really massive screen to take advantage of the height of the ceiling, to use it as a canvas, to project onto it.”

This big semi-transparent screen harmonizes modern and historical elements to showcase diverse styles of industry-leading artists, adding a three-dimensional perspective to each performance and enabling attendees to immerse themselves in the music while enjoying the beauty of this historical landmark.

As the trusted partner of NoN, Gig Control engaged Novatech Creative Event Technology to provide full turn-key production for the series of events held in the venue. As part of the design process, Gig Control and Novatech selected the ROE Visual V8T (semi-transparent screen) to merge art with technology.

“Vanish V8T panel is a proven product that has been and is being used on a variety of corporate and concerts/festivals across Australia including Sydney WorldPride back in March 2023” states Leko Novakovic, Managing Director from Novatech. “We have over 400sqm of V8T now, and are the only production company in Australia with the product. More shows are lined up that will feature this cool & innovative product.”

“It is definitely a multi-sensory entertainment experience for everyone at Now or Never. We enjoy working with Novatech and thanks again for their trust and bringing us to a world heritage-listed stage! Both of us share the same goal of delivering exordinary visual effects to audiences and trust-worthy quality to customers. It is such a success and we can’t wait for the next one.” says Grace Guo, the sales director of ROE Visual.

“For some time now, we have been considering the idea of incorporating Vanish into a music-oriented piece. When the design brief came from the NoN team, it was a perfect fit,” said Nathan “Sloth” Aveling, the resident creative powerhouse at Gig Control who was the mastermind behind this design. He not only created it but also meticulously crafted all the necessary technical documentation to bring the vision to life. “Choosing Novatech as the event supplier was an obvious choice given the size and scale of the event.”

Gig Control is thrilled to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Novatech and the City of Melbourne to make this show a reality, and will look forward to continuing to use Vanish in innovative and creative ways.