Following the success of her debut album, Fake It Flowers, Beabadoobee and her team hit the road as soon as live events were permitted post-pandemic, earning widespread acclaim. As the singer-songwriter’s following has grown, so too has the level of production, with crew members rising through the ranks and new personnel and vendors being welcomed who complement the DIY ethos and camaraderie of the camp, aptly dubbed ‘crewbadoobee’.
Ahead of the singer-songwriter’s Ally Pally show – which, by a twist of fate, is the venue of the first show Beabadoobee ever attended independently eight years earlier – TPi goes behind the scenes to retrace the origins of the tour. “You build trust as a monitor engineer as someone stage side for reassurance that has your best interests in mind and understands you,” explained Production Manager, Connor Houston, who started his career on the road with Beabadoobee as her Monitor Engineer.
“So, when I was planning the tour and bringing in designers and a new team to step up the production, there was a level of trust,” he added. “This allowed us to progress swiftly with the gig’s best interests at heart and made the transition smooth.”
In 2021, the camp was touring a production that featured lots of amps, a drum kit, and a simple backdrop, playing rock songs to a crowd of between 500 and 2,000 people. Nowadays, the DIY stage designs have given way to a more narrative-driven show that aligns with the artist’s aesthetic and sound.
The result is a production design reminiscent of an early 2000s art studio with the incorporation of nature, creating a multitiered show that evolves as the setlist progresses. “Every element of this production can scale to fit the size of the venue,” Houston said. “Some venues on this tour have been smaller and more challenging but are equally as rewarding as the larger shows due to the intimacy we can create.”
The tour’s vendors featured: Allotment (merchandise), Eighth Day Sound – a Clair Global company (audio), Christie Lites (automation, lighting, rigging), Fly By Nite (logistics), Harlequin Floors (marley), LMG Touring (video), NTRP (travel), Ox Event House (scenic), Phoenix Bussing ( artist, band and crew transport), Production Park’s The Mill (production rehearsals), Riverjuke (tour management), Rock-it Cargo (freight), and ShowTex (drape).
“I selected suppliers that can cover us in most territories,” Houston explained. “Having one point of contact ensures consistency and allows us to balance the budget.”
Tour Manager, Carlijne ‘Carly’ Schreijer; TM Assistant, Saule ‘Sun’ Kavaliauskaite and Production Coordinator, Meera Higginson supported the orchestration of the tour. “Beabadoobee requested a female tour manager,” Carly reported. “We have a great team supporting us on the road. It’s helpful to know I can lean on them, and vice-versa.”
SHADOWPLAY
Created and conceived by Beabadoobee, Production and Lighting Designer, Daniel Richardson, and Creative Producer, Andrew ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson, a white spinnaker from ShowTex hangs unevenly on three sides of the stage as if concealing the walls. Grey high-shine marley from Harlequin forms the studio floor and covers the drum riser. Various studio props are scattered across the stage, including a ladder, a workbench, and a shelving unit filled with art-making paraphernalia, as well as an old slide projector. Paint splatters above the walls and floor add to the illusion of an art space. Behind the spinnaker, a nature wall casts shadows when backlit.
Richardson cited the influence of Wilkie on the project: “His mind thinks beyond the show, to the meaning of the tour for the artist and where this should all be going,” Richardson noted. “He is always keeping things on my radar and moving us forward.”
Shadow play plays a significant role in the show, with shadows of the band and props shifting constantly, evoking memories of Talking Heads’ 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense and Nine Inch Nails’ 1994 Self-Destruct Tour. This analogue shadow play continues using gobos projected onto the walls, emulating clouds, water, and forests. At the climax of Beaches, the spinnaker walls kabuki away to unveil the nature wall in all its glory, with a backdrop of 35 blinders, creating a “rock ‘n’ roll forestry finale”.
To transform the concept into creation, the designer used Sketchup to create the scenic geometry before harnessing Syncronorm Depence previsualisation software to test materials, shadows and lighting design ideas.
The resulting geometry is imported in Vectorworks, where technical drawings are produced. “The brief was to create a show that felt effortlessly cool with a big rock ending – a show that took you into a world inspired by Bea’s experiences in California creating the album at Rick Rubin’s studio,” Richardson explained. “At our first meeting, she knew that she wanted fabric to create the space, but as the conversation progressed, we discovered her love for art spaces, studios, and nature. I began to see a painter or sculptor’s art studio with lighting and shadows coming through plastic sheeting draped about the place, and nature encroaching in on the world.”
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Words: Jacob Waite
Photos: Daniel Richardson and Tommy Davis
