Blackburn UK based lighting and visuals
company HSL supplied Lighting Designer Neil Carson with full lighting
production for chart topping, Brit Award winning singer songwriter Emeli Sandé’s most recent UK tour, together with a
‘specials’ package for the European section.
Carson – who has worked with HSL on
several previous projects including Chase & Status – was instrumental in
getting the company on-board, where the account was project managed by Mike Oates.
Says Carson, “I wanted a lighting supplier that I
knew could deliver the best quality kit, crew and attitude – HSL were my first
choice”.
Sandé’s meteoric career trajectory which
includes some interesting and inventive collaborations – has included three
number one singles and a number one album ‘Our Version of Events’ in the last
two years and she performed at both Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the
London Olympics.
Mike Oates comments, “It was great to work with Neil
again on another new and exciting artist. As usual, he came up with a stylish
design fusing quirkiness and simplicity that looked really cool!”
The design was based on three trusses
and primarily Robe moving lights – a combination of ROBIN 600E Spots and Washes
– 35 in
total, which were spread across the trusses, together with seven of Robe’s
ColorWash 750E AT Tungstens.
Using these fixtures, especially the
smaller, lighter brighter ROBINs, enabled Carson to use smaller trussing, which
all helped in saving space for an extremely challenging truck pack!
Carson’s initial brief was that the lighting
should help make the show more personal, intimate and focused on Sandé and her captivating performance. It
was really important that there were no visual distractions, and that the raw
emotion of her music was at the centre of attention.
The ColorWash 750E AT Tungstens were
rigged on the front truss and used to key light Sandé and the six piece band.
On the deck, Carson positioned eight Martin MAC Viper
profiles along the back of the stage, plus six GLP Impression LED washes, used
for side lighting Sande and adding low level cross-stage general colouring.
There were also eight single floor PARs
dotted around to augment the side lighting, all run in open white adding a nice
flourish of tungsten warmth.
Right upstage were three Nova Flower
effects – used for specific accents and punctuation points – and behind these,
the back comprised a custom drape bearing Sandé’s name.
A total of 21 x vertically orientated
Showtec active Sunstrips were strategically placed across the three trusses
adding architecture and form to the stage look and utilised for lifts and
punches for selected choruses.
Boosting the ambience were 30
individual over-size light bulbs, each attached to a different length run of
TRS hanging down ‘randomly’ from two of the trusses via outrigged drop-bars.
HSL also supplied two Robert Juliat
Ivanhoe follow spots, and Carson
was joined on the road by HSL technicians Mark Callaghan and Steve Bliss, “They
were brilliant,” he comments.
Carson controlled all the lighting on a
Chamsys MagicQ 100 desk with a Wing, which he found great for doing the daily
cloning and morphing of moving lights when using house rigs in Europe.
For these European shows – a mixture of
clubs and theatres – the only space available for any lighting kit to be
carried was a corner of the backline trailer, just enough to accommodate the 30
hanging bulbs, a small dimmer and the console. These were added in to whatever
house system was available at each venue.
Says Carson, “HSL did a fantastic job! The company
is large enough to have all the kit you might want and personal enough to have
real integrity and care. Mike’s passion for the job and the industry is truly
amazing!”
