Kinesys on Delta duty with Mumford & Sons
- Details
The Kinesys Apex System being used on the tour was chosen and invested in by UK-based Brilliant Stages who designed and provided the mothergrid system. Also in use are a series of bespoke spine trusses designed to span under venue score boards. The Kinesys motors are mounted inside Brilliant’s own custom truss sections, with two motors per section of truss that are then attached to the mothergrid spines through connection plates.
The lighting design started with Ed and Phil receiving a brief from the band containing -amongst other things - some cryptic statements about what Delta meant to them, which was followed by several months of back-and-forth, with set / video designers Stufish, Ed and Phil all throwing different ideas and proposals into the mix to see what stuck.
Show designer Ric Lipson from Stufish always planned an in-the-round show which brought many physical challenges for lighting - restricted positions for overhead trussing, sightlines, the band being able to move freely around the space, etc. Setup and rigging time were another major consideration as the dates were booked before the production was finalised.
All of this led to the essence of the lighting design being based on a series of moving pods. These could be varied according to the size and shape of the venues and followed Ed and Phil’s original concept, which was to fill that over-stage void - common to in-the-round stage designs - with practical production elements.
Often, this space might be filled with LED screens, but Ed and Phil explained that the band have never been keen on big LED video looks, so they instead produced a solution to transform the space that could build and change throughout the show and also offer a level of ‘inclusion’ for the audience.
The flat 5ft high stage in the centre of the arena measures 12 by 7.5m, and above this are the 14 lighting 'pods' - trusses connected by a special cradle - and each one is picked up by the two Kinesys 500kg Apex motors.
The pods are each loaded with four Portman P2s, a single Martin MAC Aura XB and a GLP JDC1 LED strobe and they move into different positions and looks.
There are also six lighting trusses, with the four centre-most also each on two Kinesys motors, making up a total of 36 Kinesys points.
The 36 Apex motors are being controlled by Luke Williams operating a Kinesys Vector PC based controller - part of Brilliant’s purchase which was masterminded for them by Ben Brooks. Joining Luke on the automation crew are Jordan Whyment, David “Boots’ Callan, Max Pearson and Erin O’Brien.
Lighting is being supplied by Neg Earth in the Europe and Solotech in the US and the and LX chiefs are Adam Morris and Adam Morgan. The Delta tour is being production managed by Steve Gordon and continues throughout 2019.
(Jim Evans)
