Jensen's design is big and 'televisual' in keeping with the environment from which the show originated, and it is also what "the majority of the audience would expect," he explains.
The set was designed by Production North's, Iain Whitehead and includes a central staircase walkway and a series of hydraulic lifts from below the stage, which gives the show an epic feel. There are three upstage LED screens with the central screen splitting to form a stage entrance.
With ten artists on the bill, the other aesthetic element that Jensen had to deal with was the wide range and scope of their performances. A substantial part of his job was trying to keep each one looking unique and individual.
Jensen chose four straight trusses; the downstage two are connected and flown as a box, of which one rail hosts a set of four electric kabuki silk roller blinds forming part of the set. Arranged across the trusses are 28 Martin Professional MAC 2K profiles, 20 MAC 600s and 20 High End StudioColors.
The stage is bordered at the top and front by a 22m wide by 2m high Barco O-Lite screen which shows a variety of content generated by a Catalyst digital media server also being run by Jensen from the WholeHog II console. This is output to screen via video director Dan Ormerod's PPU, and also includes scrolling text of the performers' names and selected Catalyst clips.
Bandit is also supplying eight MAC 500 moving lights, positioned on the floor and rigged to the handrails of the set, and these are joined by another eight MAC 2Ks on the floor. The front of house follow spots are four Lycian 2Ks.
Additionally, there are six Molefays on the front truss for audience illumination, plus another three behind the central video screen for silhouetting artists as they enter the stage. Another two Moles sit below the stage centre hydraulic lift, lighting up when this is in use for propelling people upwards onto stage.
Jensen has twenty JTE PixelLines placed in two rows, 'edging' the set steps in front of the band risers. There are also several circuits of Raylights underneath the Perspex set floor.
(Jim Evans)
