HSL project managers John Slevin and Jordan Hanson co-ordinated everything for the Blackburn- based rental company and ensured that the production design - created collectively by Tom E with input from Christie Lites' Robert Roth and Robert Achlimbari from All Access - was supplied with all the lighting, rigging and automation elements it needed.
The tour's technical director Brian Spett who ran video content for the show and lighting director Charles Ford (also the lighting programmer / operator) additionally had their input, while HSL supplied a top crew chiefed by Simon 'Piggy' Lynch, to ensure that everything ran as smoothly and seamlessly on the road for a gruelling three and a half week schedule.
This design was actually the third iteration of the original tour concept that started in 2015, however structurally it was quite different to anything that had been done before and also included a lot of new video content.
"We were hugely honoured to be working with a production director of Tom E's calibre and his talented team," commented HSL's MD Simon Stuart. "The tour was invigorating and visually exciting, and although with 12 trucks it was good sized production ... those involved also maximised all elements to go a long way applying imagination and thought!"
The stage design was based around four onstage sections of 8 and 9 mm LED video screen, a multi-level stage deck and several lighting trusses overhead and running down the sides of the space.
HSL supplied all the necessary trussing for lighting, and rigging for lighting and video which included over 100 motors. The production riggers were Tom Cusimano and Billy Daves Jnr.
Lighting was rigged on eight overhead trusses and two moving pods. The pods each measured 3 x 3m, one downstage above the B-stage and one mid-stage, both populated with a 6 x 6 grid of Elation SIXPAR 200s - with the RGBAW+UV LEDs - purchased specially by HSL for the tour and 16 x Clay Paky Sharpys around the perimeter of each pod.
Other spot and beam moving lights on the rig included Clay Paky Mythos and Sharpys, with 68 Sharpys in the show - including 32 framing the pods.
Six Mythos were positioned on the floor. Being such a versatile 'hybrid' lightsource, six "went a long way" comments Brian.
Forty-six Robe LEDWash 1200s were dotted around on the various over-stage and side trusses and these formed the base stage and set washes for show and key lighting for the dancers and Chris Brown himself.
Sixteen Atomic strobes were scattered around in the air on the mid and upstage trusses and 24 x well maintained Martin MAC 2K XBs held their own on the upstage truss. The lighting count was completed with 16 x 4-lite Moles.
Brian - who triggered the d3 4x4 Pro media servers running the playback video from a grandMA2 full size console - explained that he and Charles Ford who operated the lighting using another grandMA2 light - both worked very hard to ensure there was plenty of definition in the show.
"There were enough different types of light to make it versatile but not so many that it turned into a mush," commented Brian. A third grandMA2 full size was provided by HSL as an onstage technical desk for the crew.
(Jim Evans)
