Fatboy Slim’s long-term Lighting Designer, Stephen Abbiss, opted for the Avolites’ Tiger Touch II console for Fat Boy Slim’s summer season of festival shows and one-off headline slots across Europe and Australia.
Known for his flexible performance style, British DJ Norman Cook, dubbed Fatboy Slim, demands a highly personalised approach when it comes to his production lighting. “Norman mixes completely live,” said Abbiss. “We don’t have a set track-list, so the success of the show’s visual element relies on clear communication between myself and the tour’s digital content creator and video operator, Bob Jaroc. To prepare for each show, we have to know every track that Norman is likely to play.”
To that end Abbiss and Jaroc use a robocam installed on the DJ’s deck table, which provides them with a live feed of the DJ’s chosen upcoming tracks. “It can get hairy at times,” explained Abbiss, who has worked with the artist for nearly a decade. “Because I am operating live and having to make quick programming choices, I need a console that is not huge but that allows me a lot of control options. With the Tiger Touch and Tiger Touch II I can get to everything that I need quickly. The freeform workspaces and touchscreen allow me intuitive control of multiple fixtures at a time, which is great when you are having to work at speed.”
The basis of the production’s rig is 10 truss fingers on stages where space is at a premium, the rig can be scaled down and angled to suit the size of the stage. Abbiss decided against touring his own control desk and instead relies on Avolites.
“Avolites has a fantastic global supply chain, so there was no need for me to tour a desk,” says Abbiss. “I’ve been using Avolites consoles for many years. Accessible features that allow me to do a fast re-patch and Avolites’ intuitive live control surfaces keep me a fan of the brand.”
Abbiss used the latest Titan software upgrade, v10.1, to program and control his design for the DJ’s live shows. “I am relying heavily on Titan’s Fixture Intensity View function,” noted Abbiss. “I have a lot of ‘plots’ that need fast re-patching and this feature allows me to view and change the levels of my fixtures quickly and easily on the console’s touch screen.”
Fatboy Slim’s 2017 summer season witnessed the DJ play British festivals including Latitude and Creamfields, as well as European festivals such as Nova Rock. The DJ will also be completing a series of club residencies for Cream, Ibiza through August and September.