"My aim with this event is to support the atmosphere, and what is going on musically, without overpowering or distracting people," White explained of his lighting design. "There are moments that need to be like a rock show, with huge dramatic cues and changes; but then also times for a lot of restraint, and subtle changes to enhance what is happening on stage and in the crowd."
For one of the more dramatic aspects of the show, a large 25ft cross was placed as the centrepiece of the rig, whereas in the past years it was typically offstage. Built out of Bandit 5x5 blinders, with 950 individually controlled lamps that were mapped within the GrandMA2 Lite console for various patterns and effects, the cross moved from behind the LED screen up into the rig where it was revealed halfway through the night.
"The matrix product is great and its rigging was perfect for building the cross shape," White said of the Bandit 5x5. "With the amount of blinders we had on the rig also, this made for some huge tungsten looks, which also looked great in the daylight on the Sunday (service)."
Additionally, the lighting design, which integrated video and lighting so song lyrics and videos were not obstructed during the services, consisted of a staggered wall of angled trusses from upstage to downstage, with a geometric array of 38 VL3000 Spots, 28 2Lites, and 28 GRN Par 3-36 as truss toners.
"Unusually for me," explained White, "All of the wash light was on the floor: 10 VL3500 Wash with clear lens in an upstage row for rear wash and silhouette looks, and a further 8 down the sides of stage, for cross wash, and ACL type beam fans in Varibrite mode."
The front truss contained 17 MAC 2000 Wash fixtures and 8Lites, with DF50 hazers and F100 foggers covering the atmosphere.
One challenge of the event came in the form that the rig had to be suitable for two different shows: the Friday night service in the dark, and the Sunday morning service in broad daylight.
"A truss-heavy, geometric design was chosen for its ability to create the big looks I needed in darkness, but also to fill the space and provide 'eye candy' for the daylight show where beam looks would be lost," said White.
(Jim Evans)
