Colour Sound gets Respect
- Details
The vibrant and animated two-hour live concert was created by Adrian Grant (producer of Thriller Live) and directed / choreographed by Tiffany King, celebrates the huge success and songs of Aretha Franklin - the Queen of Soul. It was delivered by three leading vocalists - Stacy Francis, Tanya Edwards and Cleo Stewart - together with a live band, a gospel choir and ‘preacher man’ AJ Lewis.
Colour Sound had supplied the tour earlier in the year, so production manager Aaron Booth again returned to Haydn Cruickshank and the team in West London.
For this one, they were also asked to supply a lighting and visuals director, so regular Colour Sound collaborator Sam ‘Kenny’ Kenyon stepped up and took over programming and running of the show’s lighting and video.
Utilising the same basic rig as before, they wanted to recreate the looks, scenes and atmosphere that had worked so well previously.
The venues were mainly theatres and concert halls, all with a wide variety of stage spaces, so it was essential that the rig was adaptable. Combining a bit of rock ‘n’ roll with some theatre methodology, using trusses for some shows and house fly bars for others, Kenny ensured that there was maximum production continuity each day.
The lighting rig was based on three trusses - front, mid and rear - plus a fourth truss for flying the video wall.
The main lighting rig comprised 14 x Chauvet Rogue R2 washes and 12 of the R2 Spots for the moving elements, plus some generic eye candy in the form of eight Showtec Sunstrips on the back truss on drop bars, and another eight on floor stands upstage. These Sunstrips plus six two-cell blinders on LX2 added retro tungsten treatments to the picture.
Adding authentic-looking tungsten effects to the scene were eight Showtec Vintage Blaze 55s also on drop bars. Combined, the Sunstrips, 2-lites and Blaze 55s produced glowing warm looks and the vintage ambience that featured prominently, slickly setting the performance vibe. Kenny’s console was a grandMA3. Kenny worked alongside Colour Sound technician Luca de Lauri.
(Jim Evans)
