For the second year, Fineline worked closely with Andy Cotton of TAO Productions, who production managed the events and co-ordinated all technical aspects. The Sessions ran over five weeks and featured a star-studded line up including Skrillex, Dizzee Rascal, Katy B, Ellie Goulding, Elbow, The Pixies and others.
Fineline's Rob Sangwell explains that they designed a highly flexible and practical 'house' lighting rig, designed so all the touring bands could come in 'underneath' with their respective touring packages. Lighting for each gig - although based around the fixtures available in the house rig - also emulated the artist's touring lighting schemes as far as possible.
The stage at Eden is beneath an elegant, distinctive crescent shaped tensile roof, and so all rigging has to be integrated with this. A hybrid design has been evolved to facilitate the 17m wide by 14m deep super-truss mother grid that is part ground-supported and part-flown. This in turn provides all the required lighting and video rigging positions.
"It took a bit of working out initially," explains Sangwell, "But now the concept exists it is proving an ideal and very adaptable solution."
Once the mother grid was in place, they sub-hung their three x 15 metre lighting and one 15 metre wide video trusses below, plus a drapes truss at the back, with allowances made for accommodating additional artist 'specials'.
For lighting, the house rig lighting comprised 18 x Robe 600E Spots, 18 x Robe LEDWash 600s and 12 x Robe Pointe multi-purpose luminaires, together with a healthy splattering of 2, 4 and 8-lite blinders, 16 x Martin Atomic strobes and 16 x ETC Source Four Profiles at the front for essential key lighting.
There were also around 72 PAR cans on the rig for general washes and stage cover, as well as for support acts, etc.
The house control was Avolites dimming and ChamSys SnakeSys R8 ArtNet nodes and Avo DMX buffers for data, with an Avo Tiger Touch as the house desk. All the visiting LDs brought in their own grandMA2 consoles, all of which were integrated into the ArtNet control network.
For video, Fineline supplied 48 panels of Lighthouse R7 LED screen, which was reconfigured for different acts, with the 'standard' house configuration being one 16:9 upstage block of screen.
For Elbow - designed by Cate Carter - they needed more screen, so 44sq.m was installed for this show, set up as a 14.5m wide and 3m high surface at the back to dovetailed with their touring video package.
The LED screen was hooked into the touring media servers / control systems in each case again integrated via Fineline's ArtNet data system. This aspect of the project and all associated geekery was co-ordinated for Fineline by Stuart England.
(Jim Evans)
