Lancelot and Merlin for Ed Sheeran and Robbie Williams
- Details
Supplied by UK-based lighting hire company Lights Control Rigging (LCR), the two Lancelot followspots were specified for the tour by production designer, Mark Cunniffe, who has worked with Sheeran as lighting and production designer since the star first broke onto the music scene in 2011.
Robert Juliat’s Lancelot is a 4000W HTI followspot designed for very long throw applications, with a 2°- 5° zoom and an innovative optical train that delivers an extremely flat beam and improves on the power of its smaller counterparts. It was clear Cunniffe needed a quality fixture to pick out the singer to his best advantage against the massive, video-heavy set that surrounds him.
“I chose the Lancelots for a number of reasons,” says Cunniffe. “Firstly, I love the optics of the Robert Juliat products which guarantee a flat field and good output. Secondly, the Lancelot is always a rock solid followspot to take on tour. It is great to be able to travel with the lamp in situ in the spot and, with 187 dates, we needed something we could trust to be truly durable.”
Six months into the tour, Cunniffe has been proved right: “The Lancelots have been very reliable and shown themselves to be extremely technician-friendly in terms of maintenance and road-worthiness. As expected they have been excellent all round.”
“As a rental company, investing in products such as the Robert Juliat Lancelot is essential to ensure our clients receive a strong reliable touring product,” says Mike Oates of Lights Control Rigging. “It is also great to deal with Robert Juliat and Ambersphere again who offer a great service and a speedy and knowledgable support network.”
Ed Sheeran’s Divide tour is not the only large-scale extravaganza for which Cunniffe has opted to use Robert Juliat followspots. Four RJ Lancelot and two RJ Merlin 2500W HMI followspots have just toured Europe with Robbie Williams The Heavy Entertainment Show tour where Cunniffe employed them as front-of-house spots and side spots respectively.
Lighting supplier for Robbie Williams’ tour is UK-based Neg Earth Lights. “Following our initial investment in Robert Juliat Lancelots in 2011 we have seen them become the followspot of choice for the majority of the work we do, to the extent we now have 28 in our inventory,” says Neg Earth Lights’ Dave Ridgway.
Robbie Williams’ The Heavy Entertainment Show ran for 35 dates from June to September across all major European cities, and culminated in two shows in the Russian cities of St Petersburg and Moscow in early September.
(Jim Evans)
