Kiwi music legend Dave Dobbyn has spent the last few weeks touring New Zealand with his Open Up Tour 2020. Dave and his band took the audience on a journey through his hits delivering a great night of music …. and some pretty amazing visuals too!
The tour was put on by Dave and his management partly to give his band and crew work after Covid-19, although it was rescheduled three times, and this is what he had to say when announcing the tour:
“My last performance was on Zoom for the Music Helps charity that provides assistance to all those behind the scenes who have lost work. Now I have the opportunity to open up our horizons again, to put the band and crew on the road and bond through real-life gatherings” said Dobbyn. “We are keeping it intimate for this run but it still means a team of 11 on the road and we can’t wait to make connections and meet people. Loading in gear and packing out at the end of the night has never been more appealing for the production team!”
The first night of the tour was the #wemakeevents night so the venue guys lit the room with the logo and Dave did a great speech mid-show in support of crews everywhere.
Lighting designer Goff van’t Hof had done a few of Dave’s regional tours so he knew what would and would not work. He ran his design past Dave and his manager Lorraine who trusted him to deliver something that was in keeping with the vibe.
“I wanted to send something out that was a little courageous in its design but not ridiculous so that we’d struggle packing it in and out every day,” remarked Goff. “I had the idea of an open-ended cube for another act but for whatever reason, it didn’t come to pass. I wanted something that would own the rooms so people were not just seeing the same old thing they saw last time we came through or similar to any other show.”
Goff required a rig that would be flexible, as they played a variety of rooms, from theatres to halls, even an old bathhouse. He needed something that could expand and compact but still feel the same to artists, as he wanted for them to feel at home on stage and the rig provided a good consistent performance environment.
“We created a 4m truss cube that the band lived inside of, and the truss had LED battens on all leading edges,” he explained. “By rotating the cube to an open-end we have more room sideways and in-depth. The drum riser was built on top of the rear floor truss of the cube and being a four-piece band there was plenty of room inside for the musicians to do their thing. Dave was at the front point of the cube and everyone back from there. We pushed out the apex of the floor LED to give everyone more room. It gave us a good consistency of delivery.”
The rig was supplied by Goff’s own company The Production Co. and included the 44 x Viky LED battens which blew out to 77 for the arena show. Mounted around the cube, they allowed Goff to run video content through them or just run traditionally.
Eight Chauvet Maverick MK2 wash units were mounted on the truss cube uprights and again, this rose to 12 for the arena show. Four Claypaky Sharpy Plus, eight for the arena show, on cases were located outside of the cube.
“These units have an amazing zoom from 3 to 36 degrees and give us plenty of options,” said Goff. “They’re a great unit giving bang for buck, the only drawback is they are not as bright as the likes of BMFLs etc … but have a much more accessible price. We relied on venue supplied front light or from local suppliers where necessary and we added 8 x Molefay 4lites for the arena show. For control, I had an Onyx NX wing which is a great affordable media server.
“I have a habit of busking shows. I like the humanity of it rather than a timecoded show, the band does not run track anyway so that was never an option. Arrangements have enough room in them to ebb and flow a little depending on the crowd response, the more the audience gives the band the more they give back. The setlist always had a small amount of variance in it. I had programmed up the bones of what I needed but I wanted to leave room for the show to evolve as the tour progressed. Knowing the songs back to front gives you the freedom to do this.”
Goff’s company also supplied the audio for the tour which was mixed by Kerry Furlong who mixes most Dave Dobbyn shows when he is not moonlighting with Crowded House. Kerry was on the faders for most of the tour with Chris Gee stepping in when he had other commitments.
“Kerry likes it to be natural and there are some good effect moments that Kerry and Dave have worked out over the years,” said Goff.
The tour went old school with the PA using JBL VRX boxes brought back to life via Performance Manager software and a Crown V Rack. Goff commented that these old boxes sound amazing with the new drive gear.
“VRX boxes are an easy point and shoot box, very easy to deploy,” he added. “Some venues had good house rigs so we patched into them when it made sense. For control, we toured a Midas M32 console with IEMs mixed from FOH. We needed something with a small footprint that was scalable for bigger shows. Microphones were all pretty traditional with no radio mics needed. With IEMs everyone sings and plays better this way and we’ve certainly noticed less strain on voices since moving from wedges.”
Photos: Si Moore
