Robe MegaPointes at heart of Level 42 rig
- Details
Creatively, Yenz needed some seriously multi-purpose lighting fixtures to keep the looks and effects rolling, and with no video on the tour, lighting is the primary visual element. On the practical side, the whole rig had to fit into one truck, along with audio, backline, and catering; it had to be built each day by Yenz and one tech and look good in the venues with limited height or restricted flying!
“MegaPointes were a bit of a no-brainer,” states Yenz. “They are powerful, small, lightweight, versatile and my go-to fixture.”
Nine MegaPointes on the back truss are joined by 12 strategically deployed on the floor. Five of the floor fixtures are used to create a fantastic array of kinetic gobo and projected animation effects on the dark grey reflective backdrop, which shimmers and energises with the added lumens, complete with five columns of bug-screen flown in front to add texture and three dimensionality.
The MegaPointes are also used for beam-technology looks, for classic back lighting and silhouetting effects and for specials and solos. They are essentially the heart of the rig.
Other lights include six upstage wash moving lights, some key lights on the front truss, six towers of vertical pixel tubes behind the band that adds some symmetry and form to the space plus shed loads of 2-lite and 4-lite blinders for retro blasts of slow-decay tungsten.
This might be a small rig on paper, but Yenz hits all the right buttons on his Avolites Tiger Touch console to make it look much bigger when everything was fired up and running.
“It’s a full on up-tempo, party atmosphere onstage,” explained Yenz who has been the band’s regular LD since 2008, so that was a start point for the lighting design. “My gig is to help get that vibe out into the audience - it’s about everyone having fun enjoying fast and furious music. There are lots of opportunities for lighting cues and detail.”
Lead singer and bassist Mark King is always into new ideas for the stage presentation, whilst leaving Yenz the space to weave his own magic.
Once Yenz had received the proposed setlist, he did some extra research trawling YouTube for original live recordings of the band from the late 20th century to see how some of the numbers might have been lit back in the day.
The tour was originally scheduled for 2020, but canned due to the pandemic, so he unexpectedly found himself with an extra 18 months to think about programming and fine details.
“I didn’t want to get too clever for my own good,” remarks the softly spoken Dane for whom the UK has been home for many years. “This is a party, so lots of brightness, vibrance, movement and bold colours - the base level is quite straightforward.”
Yenz has worked closely with Siyan, the High Wycombe-based rental company who are the lighting vendors for this tour, for many years, with their project manager Steve Finch handling the account. His tech is Jason Tomes, another long-standing relationship - the two work together on all Yenz’s tours.
