Six Grammy Nominations, Six Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award and named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People, makes Khalid a big deal.
We were ecstatic to be asked to provide lighting and control when he announced two concerts at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall where he’d perform his new album in full.
Designed/programmed and operated by Australian LD Dave McMahon, the floor rig needed to look great and leave plenty of clear stage area for Khalid and his dancers to perform – Daves’ design ticked all these boxes for Khalid and his production manager.
It was a pretty short lead-up time and we had to hustle to get all the elements and details sorted between artist, PM, LD and the SOH.
Another obstacle was due to other commitments in the Concert Hall we couldn’t get onto the stage till 5pm each day, the rig had to be struck between shows and just to add another challenge, the act was supplying custom made mirrored panels to go on the on-stage truss uprights. We wouldn’t see these mirror panels until loadin on the first show.
With some decent forward planning the ei Productions show crew had both shows IN and UP and the production OUT sorted in minimal time and without a hitch.
The rig featured Ayrton Eurus and Mistrals along with GLP JDC-1 and X-Bar 20 all running from one of our grandMA3 Full Size consoles.
The custom mirror panels attached to 4 x Global F44 Box Truss Uprights.
It was a slick, minimalist-looking stage but with all that firepower there were plenty of “WOW !!” moments.
Photos: Jordan Munns
