The tour's lighting has been designed by Adlib's Ian Tomlinson, and is being operated on the road by Andy Rowe, working with technicians Neil Holloway and Mike Summerfield. FOH sound is being engineered by James Neale, monitors by Carlos Herreros, with ADLIB's Kenny Perrin out as audio systems tech.
With just Russell Howard and a single chair as the only prop/stage set - the challenge was on to make the stage an intimate and friendly spatial space for the delivery of a comedy show.
Tomlinson therefore created a basic architectural structure for the performance space to give it some shape and form via four 30ft high by 2m diameter scenic columns made from white sharkstooth gauze. Inside these hang four 30ft high by 1m wide drapes made from Polyester canvas which are printed with 'Russell', 'Howard', 'Right Here' and 'Right Now' and lit from the top and bottom. All the drapes were made & printed by Halifax based J & C Joel.
There are five trusses in the roof, three for lighting and two for drapes and softs, with the two offstage columns hung from the mid truss and the two onstage ones flown off the back lighting truss.
Behind these are two 20 x 30 ft black drapes each side, with a central gap, and upstage of these is the very rear truss, complete with a full black drape which creates an entry/exit point to the stage.
The front truss is curved to introduce a greater perception of depth and three-dimensionality to the stage. Onto this are rigged eight Martin Professional MAC 700 Wash moving lights, which are used as general stage washes. There are also 12 2-lite Moles for audience illumination and interactive moments during the set.
On the mid lighting truss are six MAC 301 LED wash lights clustered around the two outer columns towards the end of the trusses. All four columns are also internally lit by a MAC 301 mounted inside at the top and bottom, their small dimensions making them perfect for the task! Also on the mid truss are three MAC 700 Profiles, used for beamwork and backlighting of the forestage area.
On the third and most upstage lighting truss are another six MAC 301s lighting the two columns that are flown from that truss, together with six MAC 700 Profiles for making up big back-lighting looks and more powerful beam work.
On the floor in front of the drapes is a set of nine sun-strips. Together with an additional unit each side of the entranceway, these are used to make a big, bold, exciting razzamatazz entrance for Howard who is in silhouette.
FOH engineer James Neale has mixed several comedy tours recently including Frankie Boyle, Lee Mack & Jimmy Carr. James is using Adlib's new Coda Airline PA system for this one. The Coda system made its debut for Adlib on last autumn's John Barrowman tour, where it was well received. With comedy shows in particular, even coverage and clarity is key, and the vocal projection capabilities made it an obvious choice for the Russell Howard tour.
The system in its largest format in London O2 Arena, was configured as 16 Airline LA12 cabinets a side with three Airline LA8s as down-fills, plus side hangs of 14/3 LA12/LA8s, together with LA8 in-fills, all driven by Coda C10 amps. There were also an additional 16 speakers as delays, situated behind the FOH mix position in two hangs. The FOH console is a DigiDesign SC48.
(Jim Evans)
