Genesis Turns It On Again with Robe

 

Robe ColorSpot 2500E ATs are one of the moving light brands specified by LD Patrick Woodroffe for the current Genesis "Turn It On Again" World tour.

The tour features a show-stopping stage design by Stufish (Mark Fisher) based on the shape of a conch shell, with a spectacular, gently asymmetric 55 metre wide, 3000 square metre Barco MiTrix screen forming its backdrop. At the rear of the screen are 7 curved metal "ribs" of varying heights up to 28 metres.

Thirty-three of the 50 Robe fixtures are attached to these 7 ribs, with the balance of 17 ColorSpot 2500E ATs sited on the floor, upstage of the band’s performance platform,  and providing a powerful back-lighting source.

The towers were a starting point for Woodroffe’s initial lighting design. The idea was that they would encompass the stage architecture, and that lights mounted on special pods rode up and down the ribs to change the scale of the space.

Fisher developed these ribs (complete with tracking light pods) into the elegant sculpted elements framing the screen’s sweeping curvature. Woodroffe and Fisher once again found themselves collaborating very closely to develop these creative concepts, in the process amalgamating the live show, lighting and video effects a seamless fusion of visual elements.

Genesis and their manager Tony Smith were also very involved in the show aesthetics, and stayed in active discussions with the creative team throughout the evolution process. As a band, they are acutely knowledgeable about lighting, and also played an important historical role in the development of the moving light industry.

When it came to choosing moving light fixtures for this tour, Woodroffe sought three different types - a strong profile, a strong wash light and a larger searchlight.

In conjunction with the tour’s lighting equipment supplier, UK-based Neg Earth, they drew up a short list of candidates for each type of fixture, and undertook head-to-head comparisons before choosing.

On outdoor shows the main requirement is for a bright, reliable and useable light rather then layers of subtleties. At this point it came down to sheer brightness – the lights had to have the punch to reach the stage and make impact from some seriously long throw distances – and the ColorSpot 2500E AT won the Profile light category by some considerable margin.

Although the ColorSpot 2500E AT is a relatively new fixture, Neg Earth had bought their first batch a few months earlier and used them on the Dancing On Ice UK arena tour (LD Mark Cunniffe) where they’d already proved very reliable and highly effective.

The CS 2500s up on the Genesis ribs are used for gobo, colour and beam effects, while the floor-based ones are used for panning behind the band from their upstage position and blasting through from the back.

On the road, the lighting is being operated by show lighting director Dave Hill using a GrandMA console. Hill comments that the Robes have proved very reliable so far, and resilient to the weather which has presented plenty of meteorological challenges.

Genesis is set to continue touring until the end of the year.