The lighting kit was supplied by Lisbon-based Insom, and Vidigal's design utilised 10 Robe ColorWash 575 ATs and 12 ColorSpot 575 ATs positioned on the back truss and floor, "I wanted to have a lot of power from the back of the stage" he explains. The tour itinerary included a great variety of venues, and "The 575 is a neat enough fixture to fit into the medium sized and smaller venues on the tour, but it's output is incredibly bright, so it was the ideal solution for the specific 'look' I was trying to create for Monica."
He's first used Robe fixtures on Sintra's 2005 tour, and was impressed; he now always requests them. Artistically on this tour, he created a basic 'standard' palette of geometric looks with the Washes on top of which he built a series of fast-moving effects with pan/tilt and shutter chases generated by the GrandMA console's effects engine. He also says that he finds Robe fixtures very easy to programme, and is never short of features or the capacity to come up with new ideas and looks.
He works closely with the Monica herself in developing the lightshow. She always takes an active interest, they programme the show together and are always discussing ways of developing and refining the show once it's out on tour.
Insom started investing in Robe three years ago, and now have a large stock of 575 ATs - both Wash and Spot versions. Vidigal's crew from Insom were Tiago Correia and Jose Carlos Santos.
(Chris Henry)
