Italian lighting designer Massimo Tomasino, who followed the artist on his 2010 tour, designed the lights and counted on Clay Paky equipment for its reliability and reputation.
In every city where the concert was hosted in the UK (London, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham), the production team had no difficulty in procuring the same Clay Paky lights or, at least, equally effective alternatives made by the same manufacturer.
Tomassino himself cannot hide his pride when he says "I am glad Clay Paky is an Italian name since it is highly appreciated abroad." He put eight Alpha Spot HPE 1200s on the back batten, six on the mid stage batten and six on the ground at the back.
Eighteen Alpha Wash 700s were also hung on the battens: six on the back batten, six on the mid stage batten and the remaining six on the ground at the back.
Sharpys were also used: - six on a vertical batten at the back of the stage, six on the ground near the backdrop and another four on the ground at the front, to the left and right of the stage.
The concert began with slow moving narrow cones of light from the Sharpys and an introductory music in the background. A narrow beam gobo was inserted into each light to make the light beam even thinner. Even the Alpha Spots on the ground, pointing toward the audience, were fitted with a sunburst gobo and rotated slowly.
Tomassino adds, "With Clay Paky lights, I can illuminate creatively and express all that I feel, song by song. I can also make up effects without any problems by adding gobos and colours, and speeding up or slowing down the movements of the lights."
(Jim Evans)
