Seven of the fixtures - specially developed by Italian manufacturer Novalight for the tour and now in full production - are positioned around the stadiums in the audience bleachers, pointing back at the stage.
Say's PRG's group asset director Paul Weaver, "They are an incredibly powerful effect, even contending with all the other lighting and LED screens, we're really impressed with their effect". He also reports that they are withstanding the rigours of touring extremely well.
The fixtures were sold to PRG, U2's main lighting contractors, by Lightfactor Sales, Novalight's exclusive UK distributor.
Ahead of the tour, Williams initially examined the original 1.2K Nova Flowers among other products, as he wanted a powerful 'dominator' style effect for specific sections of the show. He liked the build quality of the units, and the Nova Flowers also had the benefit of colour mixing and various effects, but he needed something brighter than the 1.2K unit for U2.
Novalight responded by producing the 2K version. These eight units (seven plus a spare) are the first Nova-Flower 2Ks production units out of the factory in Viterbo..... and the first in the world to go on the road.
Lightfactor's Peter Coles says, "Novalight are a very creative company and passionate about their work. They were extremely keen to accommodate Willie's specific requirements, and it's great to work with a manufacturer who has the attitude and flexibility to deliver solutions like this on demand."
Click here for LSIOnline's interview with Willie Williams.
For an indepth look at U2's 360 tour see the August/September issue of Lighting&Sound magazine.
(Jim Evans)
