Pioneers of British Electronic Music, The Human League has just toured Australia to perform their iconic synth-pop masterpiece DARE! in full plus a few other hits.
The band’s usual lighting designer did not travel over from the UK and Bryce Mace was offered the gig.
“I contacted the LD and he just gave me a basic colour scheme per song to match the video and a few notes,” said Bryce. “The design was already created before I got asked to do it. They just wanted eight upstage spots but I wanted to add a little more so I bought eight Acme Pixellines to try out. It just needed to be small, easy to set up but add a bit of flavour to the house rig which I think has been achieved. We have been bumping out within one hour every night.”
Bryce’s main challenge was a big one and a lighting designer’s most hated sentence “One of the performers doesn’t like haze”
“I was told if she saw it she would get it turned off,” he remarked. “The first night halfway into the second song it was promptly switched off. Since then we have been very creative in hiding it each night and I think we have finally got to a happy medium with the output. I decided to go with an MDG on this run as the haze stays in the atmosphere longer and isn’t as noticeable as some others.”
Bryce opted for eight 8 Ayrton Mistrals for his spots saying they pack four into a case, are light and still are probably just as bright as a MAC Viper.
“As we are just adding to inhouse rigs they are the perfect light to integrate into the rest of the rig without seeming like overkill,” he added. “The Acme Pixel lines were just to add a little flavour and eye candy on the risers. There’s a lot of tracks and synth sounds going on so its fun to make little chases and colour FX to match the show.”
Bryce did not want to wash out the stage to simply light up the lead singer especially as the upstage LED screen was a vital part of the production design. He also didn’t want to rely on the inconsistency of in-house followspots or tour followspots. Instead, he used the Macula System on one Ayrton Eurus commenting that they provide consistent light every night.
“I can change the colour and control dimming when I want,” Bryce added. “I don’t have to be on comms to anyone to do anything. We have two techs on the road, we just set the system up side stage and then they take turns operating each night. It’s very easy.”
The lighting was all programmed cue by cue. Bryce spent a few weeks listening to the set and watching some live clips to get a vibe of the show. I still had all my little colour and strobe stabs on faders but I made an effort to fully program a show at home on my WYSIWYG setup. Working at ei Productions allows me to just chuck an MA2 in my ute, take it home and spend a few days programming.”
The video setup is controlled onstage by the band’s guy called Dave. He has been with the band since 1987 … when Bryce was born!
ei Productions supplied the Ayrton Mistrals, Acme PixelLines, MA Lighting grandMA2, Vuepix LED Screen, Macula Followspot system and risers.
