The D4 Elite was controlling 32 of the new Robe Series 700 ColorSpot and Color Wash fixtures, 16 i-Pix Satellites used for toning the front and rear trusses, five 4-cell blinders on the front truss, 14 strings of festoons, several hundred feet of rope light, five sets of Christmas tree lights draped over the backline, four mirror balls and two compressed air confetti cannons. All lighting and FX equipment was supplied by HSL.
The D4 was also triggering Trenell's own Hippotizer digital media server, loaded up with content driving a 10x10m Soft-LED backdrop. Trenell's lightshow for Allen has a bouncy, up-tempo carnival feel to it - in keeping with her renowned spirited and lively performance style. He used both the moving lights and the LED backdrop sparingly to maximise the effects, fused with plenty of bold saturated classic colour combinations with a contemporary twist.
Trenell also runs the D4 Pilot emulation software on his laptop, which enables him to programme, tweak and edit the show when away from the gig, "It's been absolutely invaluable especially when time is tight - which is increasingly common," he says. Avolites' Steve Warren adds, "It's great to see LD's like Neil really utilising the D4's creative features and immense power. His show for Lily Allen was really intelligently thought-through and operated - very impressive and with excellent timing."
(Jim Evans)
