S+H supplies LED screen for 10cc tour
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The tour’s production manager, Dave Cobby, also looks after the video elements on the road, and he specified the screen, returning to S+H, the Ilfracombe, Devon based company which has supplied previous 10cc tours including the 2016 40th anniversary celebration of seminal album Sheet Music.
Dave has worked with the band since 2006, and this time around took on both roles. “It’s always a pleasure doing business with S+H’s Terry (Murtha) and the team. We get a great deal and the 10mm screen is exactly the resolution and quality that we need.”
The screen was configured as a continuous 8m-wide by 5m-high surface upstage. The requirement was for a lightweight and easy to rig solution that was adaptable and practical for a variety of venues on the itinerary, that could be rigged quickly and easily.
“It is one of the most handle-able and reliable screens I’ve encountered,” says Cobby, who was assisted in the rigging and positioning process by LD Martin Bell.
Used only in three songs, the screen had maximum impact, and the rest of the time was absorbed into the background. “This is another great advantage of this type of screen” comments Cobby. “You can get a proper blackout.”
The band’s video content was designed and created by 10cc founding member Kevin Godley (who was not on the tour). It featured during the intro Son of Man and Somewhere in Hollywood, where Godley sings the lead vocal and appears to be floating above the band on the screen. The third section of video plays out during their worldwide hit, I’m Not in Love.
Cobby used a MacBook Pro for playback, connected directly to the screen’s scaler and processors, and he sat stage left in the wings to operate during the show.
S+H’s Terry Murtha comments: “We love being involved with music shows and especially with a band like 10cc, and we are really happy to continue our working relationship with them.”
(Jim Evans)
