For the UK leg of the tour, Knight and production manager Scotty Ross worked with Lester Cobrin, White Light's head of concert touring, to choose the layout of the lighting rig. Having already toured the show in America, Knight decided to go in a new direction with the lighting for the UK tour. "In the US, we used mostly conventional sources - incandescent pars and similar - which didn't give me a lot of flexibility and required constantly changing gels," Knight said. With the opportunity to design the new rig, she looked to LED technology.
Knight chose JB Lighting VaryLED A7 Zooms to be the work horse of the tour, specifying more than 30 of them for use overhead and on the deck. She used the VaryLED fixtures for increased flexibility, vibrant colours, and wide angle coverage to give the show bright and bold looks.
Onstage, a dozen Pixeline 1044 units provided additional visual structure, as Knight mapped the LED units to display patterns and colour effects. Crisp beams from Martin Mac 2000 Profiles added further depth to the look. With these multi-layered elements at her disposal, Knight crafted a variety of looks throughout each performance which flowed seamless from one to the next as the Jackson 5 pop stars treated audiences to fan favourites from across the decades.
The versatility of the equipment wasn't the only thing to impress Knight, who had not worked with White Light previously. "As with every tour," she explained, "each venue brings its own challenges, but service and support from White Light throughout the UK has been outstanding. The knowledge and willingness of the staff was incredibly valuable, meaning any changes were handled with ease and efficiency. "
(Jim Evans)
