Robe lights Live in Leith broadcasts
- Details
The four featured artists – two per gig – were lit by two of Scotland’s leading lighting designers, Grant Anderson and Sam Jones. Featured acts were Ransom FA and Nova Scotia the Truth, Lucia and The Best Boys and The Ninth Wave.
The gigs are presented by BBC Radio Scotland DJ Vic Galloway and were produced by Lynn Morrison and Callum Jones for the Leith Theatre Trust. The six (in total) recordings were also the first fully in-house productions staged since the venue reopened in 2017 and will be streamed via Dice TV on three consecutive Saturday nights in March / April 2021.
More than that, the concerts also provided a valuable opportunity for some Scottish production professionals to work for a week in this venue, enabling rental companies like lighting supplier (for shows 2 and 3) Black Light which is headed by Calder Sibbald to get back to doing what they love best.
Built in 1932, the charismatic 1500 capacity Leith Theatre was a hub of the community that has survived World War Two bombs, the threat of demolition and nearly 30 years of mothballing when it closed in 1988. Immediately prior to that during its live concert heyday in the 1970s and 80s, the likes of AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Kraftwerk, Status Quo and many more played there.
Lighting production for Live in Leith was specified by both Grant and Sam and based on the range of kit that Black Light had available in their warehouse, which included several different Robe fixtures.
The goal of these concerts was to create ‘broadcast quality’ livestream content for sharing in an intensively competitive market where the pressure is on to stand out in terms of quality music, presentation, and production.
The first recording session of the week starred Ransom FA and Nova and was lit by Grant Anderson, who utilised 15 x Robe BMFL Spots rigged in trusses flown high up in the roof of the main auditorium stage, together with eight Robe LEDBeam 150s, positioned four a side on boom stands for cross-stage lighting.
He also deployed two Robe Spiider LED wash beams in the downstage corners as floor level key lights for the artists, together with an array of other fixtures.
Sam Jones approached lighting The Ninth Wave – whom he’s lit before – and Lucia & The Best Boys from a totally different perspective.
Sam utilised the same basic overhead and side rig – including the BMFLs and the LEDBeam 150s as Grant, but the fixtures were completely re-rigged, so everything looked radically different.
He brought in some extras including six upstage vertical trusses which were rigged with 24 x narrow PAR cans and 18 additional LEDBeam 150s.
Both Grant and Sam programmed and ran their own shows for Live in Leith and – in addition to the time spent pre-viz’ing at home – they each had a full day of on-site programming and commented that Black Light did a great job as lighting vendor for gigs two and three.
Staging these Covid-safe shows with full visual productions was a big investment for Leith Theatre, but one that has been well received and valued by all involved.
Also, vital to making Live in Leith rock were sound engineers Jane Datony and Bryan Jones; video producer Ross Blair and his team from Trench One. Audio kit was supplied by DM Audio for the first Live in Leith recording and Warehouse Sound Services for the second and third, with catering provided by Artisan Larder Scotland.
