The Mission Says Farewell in Style

Apart from a brief sabbatical between 1996 and 1999, the gothic rock band The Mission has been rolling out great hits for over 22 years. Even with ten studio albums they spent much of that time on the road doing what they did best. Live rock n roll.

So when earlier this year their front man Wayne Hussey decided to call it a day and have one final, farewell tour, they had a long tradition of outstanding live performances to live up to. Luckily, they had the man who had been there from the start to help make it happen. LD Adam Stevenson from Entec helped put together a show that sent the band off in style.

The Farewell Tour brought much of its own to the stage, but it also gave many nods to some of highlights of the band’s touring past. The rig was structurally reminiscent of some of the first tours they did, with a custom Pre Rigged Truss Arch from the 80’s containing a backdrop with an album’s cover art on it. The only problem was however, that the original canvas backdrop no longer existed. So instead Adam turned to Martin’s LC2140 for the solution.

“We really wanted to have the album artwork in the arch, and we thought about projecting it, but there were some limitations for projections, especially with the shape of the arch we used. So we thought; how about a screen instead?

“The LC screens were perfect and the audience and band loved it. For the last four nights we used the first four albums, so one album a night plus logos and pictures of the band. We had four nights with no hitches – the whole rig held up and there was no down time.”

“It was really nice that the screens were transparent so I could put other lighting behind them, although they were bright enough to use alone. We also had smoke machines behind them and it was great to have effects coming through.”

“It’s a journey for the audience. They start in the 80’s and finish in the 21st Century. Along the way we are able to show pictures of the band and farewell messages from them to their fans. It was actually very moving and a fitting send off.”

Adam used Martin’s Maxedia to control the digital content of the LC units with the help of Entec’s regular Fraser Elisha, who operated and programmed the system for him.

“Maxedia worked really well. Images could be easily manipulated to make them into the style of the band. There is a lot of content on the server, and we could customise it and make it unique to The Mission.”

In many regards it was a very special show for Adam, who got his first lighting break with The Mission after starting his lighting career at Entec in 1985, straight from school.

“I was lucky enough to go out with The Mission right from the word go and continued to work with them throughout my time at Entec. I did their first ever show, and now their last show, plus hundreds in between right across the globe. As such it has been an emotional farewell for me, and the atmosphere at the shows was amazing. The crowd was made up of fans that had followed the band loyally over the years and there were faces that had been around for 20 plus years.”

Although The Mission will be sadly missed, we are pleased to hear that Adam’s fine work with Entec will be a staple of the lighting industry for many years to come.