Chris Brown’s recent One Hell of a Nite UK and European tour featured production design by Tom E. Marzullo from Out Of Our Minds Creative Services, developed in collaboration with Christie Lites’ Robert Roth and Robert Achlimbari from staging specialist All Access.
The design included two lighting pods, which were moved using a Kinesys automation system supplied by HSL from Blackburn, also the tour’s lighting and rigging vendors.
The Kinesys elements comprised eight Elevation 1+ drives working in conjunction with one-tonne Liftket motors, controlled via Kinesys Vector software operated by Paddy Neilly. The set-up also included a Kinesys PD-ES power distribution and Emergency Stop system.
The two lighting pods were both loaded with a six by six grid of Elation SixPar 200’s with 16 Clay Paky Sharpys around the perimeter of each. They were in mid-stage and downstage positions – and moved up and down and tilted at key moments in the show.
Both pods were made from five three-metre sections of HSL low profile trusses bolted together via custom brackets.
Assisted by Alex McGregor, Neilly operated from the side of stage and also coordinated the production’s lightning and video rigging. There were nearly 100 motors in total on the Chris Brown tour, and the production featured two significant mother grids, which were used to facilitate the substantial lighting and video packages.
Neilly, whose company Enhanced Automation is based in Cardiff, enjoyed the whole experience, especially working with Marzullo and with LD Charles Ford as well as with the HSL touring lighting crew of Simon Lynch, Simon Anderson and Dan Cloak.
