Dudley has worked with the band for two years, and this was his fourth full tour. The tours and lighting rigs have steadily grown in size and stature mirroring the band's popularity.
At the start of this tour, management said they wanted to see plenty of red (and black) onstage. And they wanted it darker, weirder and edgier than the previous production tour a year ago, which was poppier and lighter in tone.
He was using just six ColorSpot 700E ATs, but these give him more than enough creative scope and range to light the full set without repetition, producing a vast array of different looks, textures and ambiences.
For the London show at The Forum, he also added in their four house Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs and sixColorSpot 250E ATs, which were part of a recent technical upgrade and refurbishment for the popular London venue.
Dudley toured his six ColorSpot 700E ATs along with four 575 moving wash lights on the floor, a series of LED PARs on scaff pipes upstage, several other LED PARs which were dotted around the stage, Diversitronic strobes, 8-lites, lots of PAR 16 "Birdies" and 60m of red rope light which was draped randomly around the backline. All this was controlled from an Avolites Pearl 2004 console.
The Guillemots have a full schedule for the upcoming months, touring Europe next and then festivals throughout the summer before opening for REM later in the year.
(Jim Evans)
