Lighting designer Francesco De Cave reports, "Fedez impressed me with his way with words. He knows just what he wants. I conceived the tour and the ideas for the set design with Mario Zappa, from F&P Group, in response to Fedez's own ideas. Fedez wrote the show himself. In my role as lighting designer, I looked for several ways to fill the interludes, some with lights and some with visual effects and sounds. These interludes are necessary transitions between one piece and the next to allow costume changes and glue together the different parts of the show Fedez asked for.
"I originally considered a rig on two planes to narrow down the Mediolanum Forum slightly by getting rid of the curves. When Fedez's popularity literally exploded, we began to think of a 360° circular stage, and designed a set with a shape reminiscent of the tattoo on the artist's neck.
"The design became more detailed and complex thanks to the ideas and efforts of set designer Igor Ronchese from Tekset, who - in addition to dealing with the shape of the stage - stepped in to create the scenery and props Fedez asked for.
"I ran the show using two HOG4 consoles, with DP8000 processors, and two Catalyst media servers. Sometimes I mixed the concert audio sessions with them, and sometimes I used them for the audio-video clips through which Fedez transmits his ideas and the clips recorded by Francesco De Gregori, the actor Francesco Pannofino and the drawings by cartoonist Dr. Pira.
"Fedez wanted a concept show and he wanted the typical atmosphere of a song theatre. Large props were used to bring out and illustrate the meaning of his pieces. Igor and Fedez had the idea of lowering polystyrene objects onto the stage. During the song Cardinal Chic, there was a ten-foot-high Rolex, with a cross instead of hands. In another piece, a large heart appeared made of fifty euro banknotes which fell from the sky like rain, and large faces of various VIPs came down when he talked about the dynasties of protégés.
"In this case, the Sharpy Wash units installed on the ground provided great range with their zooms. They are perfect for a circular stage since they do not mess it up by creating shadows or projecting annoying shadows from the bottom lighting.
"I installed 46 Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500s and 35 Sharpy Wash units on these four vertical trusses. Fedez extended his tour of the most important Italian clubs until April, while awaiting the summer season, which will include outdoor concerts, such as the one at the Capannelle Racecourse in Rome." The equipment was supplied by Agorà .
(Jim Evans)
