Lee Evans XL Arena Tour

Lee Evans’ XL tour was the hottest show on the circuit, and certainly the biggest. Since launching in Autumn of 2005, Evans played in practically every big theatre in the UK.

Steve Nicholson, Director of CoNi Ltd who supplied the entirely Martin Professional product lighting explained the choice. “There are lots of facilities, lots of people, loads of equipment - but what is in short supply is lots of time. Therefore the right choice of fixture was paramount. We required units that promised reliability for an arena tour, but that also offered the right amount of versatility to give the lighting designer fast options in a high pressure environment.” 

Nicholson continues, “With this in mind, LD Ian Jackson-French needed to be absolutely certain the fixtures he chose would deliver the effects required. Martin Professional were only too happy to invite Ian and myself to a hands-on demonstration of the 2000 Profile II, which sealed the deal. Dependability of the goods was never in question, as CoNi have always had a strong relationship with Martin, having hired and sold literally thousands of Martin products over the years.”

Having worked closely with Ian (Jackson-French) on a multitude of television shoots, most recently two series of ‘Jack Dee Live at the Apollo’, the recent Comic Aid ‘Tsunami Relief’ Concert for the BBC 1, and the last two ‘Lee Evans Live’ DVD’s, Nicholson was confident that the fixtures would fit the exacting requirements and precision of Ian’s design.

Sara L Burns, Operator/Programmer explains how the lighting was used. On a 60ft wide stage primarily backlit with three LED screens to show the live camera shots and VT, the challenge to illuminate the performance area was a delicate one. Balancing the light levels as to find an appropriate level for the camera shots, but to still get the dynamics of the movers to punch through for the arena audience.

With the furthest viewing distance averaging around 400ft from audience to stage, the LED screen output was tremendous, resulting in having to push up additional levels of key-light to compensate for the backlight. However the overhead rig of MAC 2000 Profiles, MAC 550’s, MAC 600’s, successfully cut through the intensity of the screens to give strong coverage and reinforce the dynamic look of the show.

With a 30ft trim height but a relatively large surface area to cover, the MAC 550’s zoom attributes worked superbly - getting optimum coverage out of the gobo washes without losing the clarity of the focus on the stage.
The responsive pan & tilt on the Mac 2000 Profiles played an integral part in their dual purpose as hard working audience blinders one minute, and then to their quick return to use as part of the stage wash in the next. Not to mention the outstanding light output which, when dressing the entire arena ceiling in a static break-up plus colour from units located on the stage, still had perfect reach and definition.

A specific look Jackson French had in mind for Lee’s finale at the end of the show was a big cloud scene, encompassing large dramatic audience sweeps gradually pulling back into an impressive end state

Using the MAC 550 Profile animation wheel loaded with a DHA cloud break up worked beautifully with parts that were simple to load with no bits to lose on the way! Forming the right edge on the 550’s to recreate the softness of clouds but without losing the any of the clarity of the animation was made easy by minor adjustments of the zoom and focus attributes, and the end result was a solid and reliable effect. Projecting the 550’s onto a swirling bed of dry-ice with the smooth movement from animation wheel, and a subtle wash of mid blue from the 600’s was just the perfect combination.

Sara explains, “The stunning end effect of Lee standing in the sky surrounded by ‘actual’ moving clouds is awesome – a real pleasure to operate.”

Lighting Designer – Ian Jackson-French
Lighting Company – CoNi Ltd
Lighting Company MD - Steve Nicholson
Lighting Programmer/Operator – Sara L Burns

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