Busted's LD Graham Feast has been with the band since they started. The overall visual equation was a tripartite collaboration between Feast, Peter Barnes, who created the video playback visuals, and production manager Iain Whitehead, who developed the set concept.
The basic lighting brief was to make it look like a "big rock show". The stage reveal makes the initial statement - there is over 1,000ft of trussing and an upstage tracking LED video screen that splits into three. The working stage width has been increased from the previous arena tour to bring a 'widescreen' feel. The lamp count is reasonable but not vast, however Feast's programming skills and lively operating style makes it look much larger.
The rig features 83 Martin MACs - 41 2K profiles and 30 2K wash fixtures and 12 Mac 600s. There are 22 Martin Atomic strobes, thirty-two 8-lite Moles with scrollers and 31 PAR 64 toners with scrollers for all the various lengths of trussing. The set - built by Serious Stages - contains 220 Raylites, also overseen by the lighting department. Bandit has also supplied four 3K Syncrolites, three Lycian 1200w HMI truss spots, three Lycian 2K FOH spots, four DF50 smoke machines and - just to ensure the meteorology is spot-on - four ZR33 smoke machines and fans. Bandit also supplied all-Avolites dimmers. The band utilize a small stage area at the end of a 30 metre thrust for the acoustic section of the set, for which a tidy box truss of lights is lowered in to make an intimate space.
Feast uses a WholeHog II console with two overdrives. All the playback video sources - which includes 'wallpaper' graphics and effects as well as specially shot footage of the band - is stored on a Catalyst digital media server, run via the lighting desk and fed to live video director Ruary MacPhie to output to screen amalgamating it with his IMAG visuals. The visual equation is completed by a series of meticulously timed pyro cues - including the firing of 15,000 ping-pong balls from four cannons into the audience in the finale - courtesy Pyro Junkies.
Feast comments: "As always, the service and support from Bandit has been exemplary. It's a joy to work with Lester and the rest of the team." Busted's PA is being supplied by Wigwam, with FOH being mixed by Nick Warren. Video equipment is supplied by XL Video via Blink TV and the production rigger is Mark Wade.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
