Gaskell has worked with the band since 1996. "Dynamics are always the key with lighting an Orbital show," he explains, "You have to keep everything pumping with the music, which is full on from start to finish, so you need a very flexible and versatile selection of fixtures."
Gaskell's style also usually involves adding a strong physical shape to the lighting rig - in this case achieved with V-shaped trusses and a VersaTUBE matrix. This is another reason he wanted to use BB7s - their flower-like looks bring spatial contrast to the sharp lines of the metalwork and LED tubes.
He first used the original 10 degree BB7s on Prodigy last year, and was impressed. "As always with i-Pix, they came out with something completely unique and very cool," he comments.
For this tour, he wanted to light Orbital's equipment from close-up with six of the BB7s and so needed the additional spread on the beams. These six BB7 fixtures are attached to floor trusses which are 'wrapped around' the band in close proximity.
When they are playing their own show or a festival headline slot, the other six BB7s are rigged on three drop bars behind a series of rotating screens upstage, used for high impact 'blast through' effects.
London-based Neg Earth is supplying all the kit for Orbital this summer, and currently there is talk of a UK tour in the autumn.
(Jim Evans)
