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Robe's Got Talent
Robe moving lights were used by LD Dave Farmer for the touring version of Simon Cowell's hit ITV 1 series, ‘Britain's Got Talent'.
The tour - which proved as popular as the 2008 TV series, the final of which spectacularly broke TV ratings records - starred the 10 finalists including winner George Sampson and other popular artists like Kate & Gin, Strike and Nemesis - plus two runners up. It was a fast-paced, high-variety show playing UK arenas and theatres.
Farmer's design was based on having a clear, clean stage and the flexibility to light each of the 12 very different performers differently and dramatically. The backdrop was a large projection screen filling the whole upstage space, and he also has to avoid light spilling onto this.
The lights were positioned on a box truss and across upstage and downstage trusses, with the moving lights a mix of Robe ColorWash 700E ATs and ColorSpot 2500E ATs.
The front truss featured four ColorWash 700E ATs, three bars of six PARs and four Molefeys. On the box were two ColorSpot 2500E ATs and two ColorWash 700E ATs, and five bars of six PARs. The upstage truss had four of each Robe fixture, and the lighting picture was completed with four ColorSpot 2500E ATs on the floor, running along the bottom of the screen.
It was not a massive lighting rig, but used thoughtfully and imaginatively, Farmer really maximized the effects and features offered by the Robes to create a series of sharp and unique looks and atmospheres for each of the artists.
Twelve-year-old opera singer Faryl Smith was lit simply with powerful, strongly defined beams from the ColorSpot 2500E ATs against a projected backdrop of church windows. Urban dance troupe Nemesis were lit with strong colours and skimmed and silhouetted with the floor lights, adding mood, texture and a sense of improvisation to their performances. For nine-year-old dancers Cheeky Monkeys the ColorSpot 700's multi-coloured rainbow gobo had it's own moments of glory!
Farmer has used Robe moving lights once before on a gig in Ireland, where they were provided by Dublin-based Just Lite, but this is the first time he's taken them on tour. He comments, "They have proved extremely reliable, the 2500s are very bright and the 700s are also good."
He controlled the show from two Hog 3 consoles, and worked alongside technician Adam Morgan each day to set up the rig.
All lighting and sound kit was supplied by Wales-based Sonalyst, project managed for them by Rory Madden. Sonalyst made a massive investment in Robe fixtures earlier in the year to service their regular clients and tours.
The "Britain's Got Talent" tour was being produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainment who put production values and the practicalities of touring high on the agenda. Production manager was Andy Gibbs, and video equipment was from XL Video.
8th July 2008
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