Europe - After production rehearsals in Copenhagen’s Royal Arena, Kygo kicked off his current European tour with four dates in Denmark, Sweden and Norway before heading into central and southern Europe.
“We’ve just finished a run through his home market in Scandinavia and it pretty much sold out,” said production manager Joel Stanley. “Kygo has developed musically as a performer, though remained rooted in his own personality; he’s much the same person he was ten years ago. That's a strength.” That said, the tour is tinged with a certain sadness, as Stanley explains.
“Neg Earth is providing the lights, the production design is by Rob Sinclair with Lorcam Clarke running the show. Solotech is providing PA with Kygo’s long-time FOH engineer Eds John at the faders. For video providers Video Design it has proved a very poignant start. The company’s MD Alex Leinster, their guiding light for the last 10 years and a good friend to me, passed away just days before the equipment loaded out from the UK.”
Stanley has always placed crew at the heart of his success as a production manager. Many PMs do as he does, but Stanley has a particular reputation. In this instance he certainly finds the balance between sensitivity and being sentimental.
“For the video crew I made sure everyone on the production was aware of what had happened, and that if the guys weren’t their normal selves then they might just need a moment, or a cuddle.
“For me, if you see someone acting out of character, it’s good crew management to know why. One of the continuing strengths of Video Design is the crew they provide. Of the eight people they sent on this tour, I know seven of them well. That consistency, year after year is one of the main reasons I keep coming back to them. That's true with any of the service companies I return to repeatedly. If the crew sticks with the parent company it means they are being well looked after and I know what to expect, and know their strengths.”
The show has a striking visual package; Sinclair’s adept integration of light and video is sublime, Jamie Cowlin cutting cameras directly into content on a 22m wide rear HD LED screen, while John’s FOH lacks nothing in his potent delivery of the Kygo sound.
The tour, now moving into Germany, is slipping gently into a settled routine – no bad thing as to make matters worse a nasty strain of norovirus decimated the crew during fit up in Copenhagen.
“As with all these things, I try to run a tour so that if we get hit by something like this everything doesn’t suddenly grind to halt. Even with that in mind, crew morale has stood up really well. Looking at how we are now I think it’s an accolade to Alex that nothing has changed.”
Video Design is still very much open for business, on existing and new assignments, with a well-established, strong and experienced technical and management team in place, including Alex’s father as the new director.
