Frank Turner played four sold-out nights at London’s Roundhouse (photo: Lindsay Cave)
UK - Folk punk singer-songwriter Frank Turner recently played four sold-out nights at London’s Roundhouse venue, performing four different sets and presenting lighting designer Tom Mason-Smith with the task of creating four totally different lighting designs.
Tom’s company Dragonfly Lighting provided a Robe specials package including 12 x MegaPointes, 24 x BMFLs, 24 x PATT 2013s and 12 CycFX 8s to cover the four shows and assist him make each one “a personal and memorable experience for Turner’s eclectic and loyal fanbase”. Tom also used elements of the house rig including 18 x LEDBeam 100s.
The first night featured a snappy touring set – they have recently finished a UK tour - for which Tom needed flashy, bright, punky and folky lighting and chose a mix of traditional and contemporary lightsources as specials, with 12 x MegaPointes on a large box truss in lines of six, a concept he’d used successfully on the tour, rigged as two 10 metre back trusses, one sub hung below the other.
The second night was the 10th anniversary of Turner’s Love, Ire & Song album, for which he and his band played the complete album.
The visual focus was a large new backdrop inspired by the original album cover artwork which was far upstage, initially covered by a black and revealed via a kabuki drop.
The third night, Turner performed solo. Stripped back and raw in appearance, visual features included a smaller backdrop with a circular logo and a black behind it, surrounded by a square grid of PATT 2013s leaving a space in the centre.
The fourth night was a collection of high energy tracks for which Tom needed a bit of flash-and-trash in the lights! Another backdrop was installed, this one with a bigger circle than for the solo set with additional CycFX 8s positioned to highlight its 40 ft. width. The backdrop was also dropped in lower so the upstage BMFLs could blast through for intense back-lighting effects.
Frank Turner continues touring in the US and will return to Europe in the autumn.
(Jim Evans)

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