Sir Tom Jones made his long-awaited return to Australia on his ‘Ages & Stages’ tour, his first national tour since playing full houses across Australia in 2016.
The lighting was designed by Mark Cunniffe with Lighting Director Josh Musgrave on the road. The lighting gear and crew were supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.
The flown rig is a mid-stage V with a centre-back spot for Tom, then an upstage truss.
“We’ve got Martin MAC Aura PXLs in the roof as well as Ayrton Perseos, which are great, and then we’ve got two side ladders on either side with six Ayrton Diablos on each,” explained Josh. “The floor package is Claypaky B-EYE K20 with stands for groups of three.”
Josh adds that the design comprises Claypaky B-EYE K20 in the flown and floor package, but for the Australian leg, the tour had to utilise the Aura PXL for the flown fixtures.
“The show design relies on the floor package of B-EYEs and the video, leaving the flown rig to accent throughout the show.”
A total of 37 x Claypaky B-EYE K20 made up the floor package in 183 channel mode.
“The B-EYEs are in Shapes + RGBW pixel engine mode and all effects are programmed from the grandMA3,” commented Josh. “We’ve got two grandMA3 lights at the front of the house, running in MA2 mode. The versatility of the K20 is great, as you have a lot of options in one light. From the rotating lens and individual pixel control, it allows for a dynamic show.”
According to Josh, the Ayrton Perseo is a great spot fixture that fits the bill for both indoor and outdoor venues, it is bright and has nice optics. He adds that it’s the same with the Diablos saying they’re great for key light on the band.
The show is all live with cue lists, plus manual hits and video cues.
“It’s a fun show and keeps you on your toes every night,” remarked Josh. “I have to ensure Tom is lit for the camera as he’s featured heavily on the US screen throughout the show.”
The side ladders add shape to both Tom and the band rather than a front truss.
The rig was supported by a custom Chameleon network rack performing processing and data distribution through a Luminex backbone.
TwoTrucks Production supplies the video content for the show, working directly with the lighting department to create the visual. Colonel Tom Touring supplied the touring package of disguise servers, switcher and robo cameras. Big Picture supplied the video and FOH cameras for the Australian leg of the tour.
Ethan Lloyd is kept busy as the video director, camera engineer, robo operator and media server engineer!
“The majority of my day is as the video director and looking after the camera side of things, I set up so that there are no huge sightline issues for the audience and also so I can get a good view of Sir Tom,” said Ethan. “During the show, I direct the FOH camera which is manned, and I’m moving the three Bradley CamBall3 XM robotic cameras on stage, making sure we’ve got iris and exposure correct.”
All of the songs in the show utilise live cameras and many of the songs are manipulated with different effects. Each one has a different dynamic effect depending on the song’s atmosphere or tempo – including particle effects, echoing, texture overlays and so on.
Ethan uses a Ross Carbonite Black Solo vision switcher and a disguise GX3 media server, carrying two for the tour so there’s an active backup.
The majority of the visuals are designed by TwoTrucks Production or Mark Cunniffe himself. The only song that Ethan has had a hand in directly making was Johnny Be Good which is the last song in the set.
“It was added in last year as the last song and we had nothing for it unless we use something we’ve already used,” he explained. “So I sat down with the Lighting Director that was on the previous tour and we went through some ideas, and came up with the jukebox look – featuring a frame of a classic Wurlitzer-style jukebox with a ‘selection menu’ of classic rock-and-roll songs underneath.”
One of the challenges for Ethan is multi-tasking during a dynamic performance.
“Because I’m switching and moving cameras, and trying to get iris as well, it’s a balance between where my brain is and what my hands are doing!!” he said. “It’s the multitasking of the whole show, not a specific moment that is challenging. There is also the balance between what I’m seeing sitting at my desk side of the stage, what Josh is seeing at front of house, as well as what the audience is seeing. Once we’ve achieved this balance, from a visual perspective, the show really comes together!”
