He chose the Robe fixtures for this tour - the first time he's used them on a full tour - as his main moving lights initially because of their "incredible brightness". He needed a moving light that would hold its own amidst the 200 Par cans and 24 Molefays on the rig, which was designed as a contemporary take on that classic rock 'n' roll pub-band-on-a-big-stage look. The 24 fixtures were distributed all across the three-truss rig, on drop bars off the rear truss and on the floor.
Turner utilized the Spot 1200's full effects potential by also utilising them as washlights at times, along with traditional gobo break-ups and big beamy effects. To achieve the wash look, he opened the ColorSpots up fully and added the frost filter. "It's extremely handy to have this up your sleeve if you don't have the budget for wash lights as well as profiles!" he comments.
He also found them extremely reliable: "I'd heard good reports and had some experience of this already" he says, "But it's the first time I've appreciated the benefits of Robe robustness and tourability first hand."
Previous to the Pogues tour, he specified Robe ColorSpot 1200s for the main stage at the 2005 Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle in Hertfordshire and for a couple of other shows. After being rigorously put through their paces at the Big Chill, he seized the first opportunity he could to get them out on tour.
(Lee Baldock)
