Lighting Designer Max Conwell of Naked Eye used a grandMA full-size and a grandMA2 light as backup to control lighting for leading UK singer-songwriter Morrissey’s “Tour of Refusal”, which concluded stylishly with three sold-out shows at London’s Brixton Academy.
The tour has been out since January, and Conwell has worked with the artist for the last five years. For the last year, he has exclusively been using MA Lighting’s grandMA control platform for this and all his other work.
“I wanted a totally reliable console and operating system,” he says commenting on his switch to MA. Commenting on the grandMA, he states “It’s a good all round moving light desk, does exactly ‘what it says on the tin’ and I am really confident about using it”. He adds that the backup from MA Lighting in both the UK and Germany has been second-to-none.
The starting point for his Tour of Refusal lighting design was the distinct backdrop, complete with a haunting giant snapshot of 1960’s Italian actor, Walter Chiari, which was chosen by Morrissey. This was carefully lit so it could seamlessly be made to emerge and disappear throughout the performance.
It was a sparse and minimalist rig in terms of fixture numbers, taking the principals of ‘less is more’ to a fine art, and producing a dramatically stark, contrasty and edgy show that matched the huge dynamics of the set.
The grandMA was controlling 6 x Vari*Lite VL 3500 Washes positioned on the floor, up-lighting the backdrop, 6 x High End PC Beams for downstage cross lighting and shadow work on the band, 9 x Atomic strobes, Molefeys, and some Martin moving lights. There were also 12 x i-Pix BB7 LED beam lights – 6 on the rear truss and 6 on the floor upstage of the band.
For the tour, the grandMA2 light was run in ‘series 1’ mode, and Conwell is really looking forward to putting the grandMA2 and software through its paces. “The grandMA2 looks and feels very nice, and it’s clear a lot of work has been concentrated on making the software even faster and better”.
He thinks it was a smart move from MA to keep the Series 2 syntax identical to that of Series 1, so the whole basis of the system and all the fundamental building blocks are familiar, which really enhances the ease and simplicity of the transition.
Lighting equipment for the UK and European sections of the tour was supplied by Neg Earth, and for the US, by LA-based Epic Productions.
Photos: Copyright – Louise Stickland
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