The tour started earlier in the year and included a festival run, with this leg being the first full on production design tour carrying a full lighting rig for which west London based Colour Sound made some new investments.
The design process started with Tom - who actively contributes ideas - requesting some frames onstage to give a basic form, so three - outlined with Martin Sceptrons - were the starting point of the design. The largest one in the centre is covered in gauze enabling the cheetah head from the album artwork to be projected - achieved using a Robe BMFL Blade profile moving light fitted with a custom gobo, which is very effective.
A general lighting aesthetic has evolved based on the interplay between shadows and silhouettes and different angles of light created by well-placed fixtures on the floor bringing an additional organic movement.
Jonny is pleased to be able to take a more traditional theatrical approach in contrast to his work with drum 'n' bass artists Rudimental which has also been ongoing throughout the year.
Using the frames as the basic stage architecture, Jonny added four columns in between these which are rigged with 24 x ProLights AIR6PIX moving battens - 6 per tower - running top to bottom, alternated with 24 x 2-lite Moles. Drop bars from the truss meet floor based towers to make it one continuous run of scaff anchored top and bottom.
Jonny likes the versatility of the AIR6PIX which have a pivot function allowing them to split into two fans of three RGBW LEDs, and the individually controlled LEDs can be pixel-mapped for further versatility. "You can get a lot of looks out of a small unit," he says, and Colour Sound purchased them for the tour.
The Sceptrons were also new. Jonny spec'd these for the great range of colours and effects and they make the frames into an effective digital backdrop to the stage.
In addition to this, there are three standard overhead trusses.
The front truss is rigged with Robe MMX Spots for key lighting and specials. The BMFL Blade doing the centre projection is also on this truss, together with four 2-Lites and four Claypaky Stormy LED Strobes.
On the mid truss are four each of Robe Pointes, LEDWash 600s, 2-Lites and Stormys, all used for filling the centre stage and lighting the band and riser areas. On the back truss are another six Pointes for multiple effects and six LEDWash 600s for rear washing.
Moving down to the floor package, along the upstage edge are six Pointes filling up the area with low beam looks. Another six Stormys are dotted around plus four half mirror-balls which are a signature Jonny Gaskell visual 'must-have'.
Staying on the deck, downstage left and right are a pair of LEDWash 1200s to catch Tom when he moves away from the piano which is downstage centre, and there are six LEDWash 600s dedicated to creating shadows and silhouettes on the band.
Colour Sound's crew for the UK leg of the tour is Toby Lovegrove, and working alongside Jonny as associate and programmer is Joe Beardmore - the pair has managed both Odell and Rudimental between them through a busy few months.
(Jim Evans)
