Lighting designer Ian 'Mac' MacEwan has worked with The Prodigy for nine years, "Nine LOUD years," as he puts it. This year, Bandit Lites was chosen as lighting supplier for the first time - a move which Mac says has been excellent in terms of "getting the service and attention we need". It also reacquaints Mac with Lester Cobrin, as this is the first time the pair has worked together since Cobrin joined the Bandit UK team in 2004 as business development manager.
Cobrin comments: "I've been working with Mac on various tours for about six years now, but The Prodigy is an account that I desperately wanted to maintain. Mac is a master of his craft and constantly ups the ante with his striking designs."
Lighting-wise, "it's a constant evolution," says Mac. The rig they're using this summer is basically their festival floor rig with additional overhead elements as suited to the show or event. At Brixton Academy and other similar-sized theatre shows, Mac adds two chevron shaped trusses, the rear one of which is raked and moves. The rig relies heavily on Martin automated lights including MAC 2K Profiles and 2K Washes, plus the ubiquitous Atomic strobes with scrollers.
The three backdrops - all taken from the new album artwork - are illuminated with City Color colour changing cyc units at the back. All the trussing and metalwork is covered with various pieces of grey velour - borders, legs, riser skirts - which were supplied by Hangman, who also created the backdrops. These pieces can be stretched across any truss section and cover all manner of metal blemishes if desired. Mac is also using eight SGM Palco LED cyc lights to illuminate Liam Howlett's keyboards and to produce some 'architectural' effects in that area.
Bandit has also supplied four vertical truss towers on wheels onstage, two at 15ft high and two at 10ft. These have a wash light on top and two pipes attached to the sides, usually with two Spot fixtures per tower, and there are also two Atomics and scrollers underneath each one. A 4ft diameter mirrorball is suspended from the middle of the upstage chevron truss, which is revealed by moving the arms of the truss upwards and then flattening them off. Mac operates the show himself using a WholeHog II and a Wing. The rest of the Bandit team currently working on The Prodigy are crew chief John Wynne and technicians Martin Garnish and Rob Starksfield. The production is managed by Graham Cochrane.
(Lee Baldock)
