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Avolites on the Bloc

LD Dom Smith is using an Avolites Diamond 4 console to run his lightshow on Bloc Party's current ‘A Weekend In The City’ world tour. The UK leg of the tour also features a RADlite NG1 digital media server which is run via the D4.

Smith came onboard in December last year, and the band's latest touring campaign kicked off in the new year. He was given a free rein in the design, although the band had a few pointers – primarily as to what they didn't want.

The new album takes a more serious and reflective turn from the first one which was poppier and softer, and so Smith decided to take the lighting into moodier and more edgy realms, still infused with some classic theatrical touches, as is his oeuvre.

There was never any question as to what desk he was going to use. "A Diamond 4 is always my first choice," he confirms, “for all the reasons I love Avo desks – their power, ease of operation and massive flexibility.” Smith was one of the very first D4 users, and has enthusiastically supported the product ever since.

During the first leg of the US tour in January, they toured a specials package including the desk which was combined with different house rigs every day, and he found the D4's Fixture Exchange function invaluable and "very simple and easy to use".

The principal moving lights are 18 SGM Giotto Spot 400 CMYs which he uses as both profile and wash fixtures, maximizing the effect of the frost filter. Eight of these are positioned on the gently curved upstage truss and the remaining ten on five vertical towers onstage.

Dotted around the towers are sixteen 2-cell Molefeys which create a matrix effect across the stage pointing forward. There are also eight Martin Atomic 3k strobes with scrollers, four on the floor and four on the towers for those complete retinal incineration moments. For a flourish of pure theatre, there are six Strand Beam lights on the floor in between the towers.

Also on the deck are eight SGM Palco 3s, four static and four mobile, which, Smith says "really help with the saturated, moody looks" as well as producing really fast, snappy colour chases for the poppy moments.

The front truss serves the very practical function of lighting the band! It contains 9 Source Four profiles used for the bulk of the key lighting, which is filled in from below with floor PARs complete with CTO filters illuminating each band position. These are very helpful for lighting lead vocalist Kele Okereke and lifting the top light shadows on his face created by his large and active haircut. The floor cans can also make things look ‘sinister’ when needed emphasizes Smith. There are another six Giotto Spot 400s and four 4-cell moles on the front truss.

Upstage, the performance area is framed by a tightly stretched grey filled cloth cyc, illuminated from the bottom by 12 JTE PixelLine 1044 battens.

All this is run via the D4. Smith very much likes the instant access features of the console and the fact you can customize its layout. Apart from all this, “the service and support is second to none from Avolites – fast, friendly and informative.”

The five vertical truss towers are all fronted with Element Labs VersaTILEs which are driven by the RADlite, together with custom created content that Smith produced for the show.

All lighting equipment was supplied by Siyan, together with the crew - Rob Watson (chief), Will Yapp and Jon Barker.

The show is a fast moving rocky amalgam of Bloc Party’s many influences, unique style and sounds with a thought-through, intricately layered and intelligently applied lightshow. They finish this European leg at the end of May, which is followed by numerous summer festivals, then Australia and New Zealand before returning to the US.

http://www.avolites.com

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Avolites on the Bloc

23rd April 2007

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