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Duran Duran 2017 Tour

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Lighting Co
VER

Venue
Various (Tour)

Crew

  • Production Designer: Vince Foster/LightDesign UK
  • Lighting Designer/Director: Vince Foster
  • Lighting Director (Fill-in): Mark “Junior” Jacobson
  • Lighting Crew: Kevin Royan, Ed Duda, Shane Crowl, Fraggle
  • Content Programmer: Nick Clark-Lowes
  • Tour Manager: Orla Clarke
  • Production Manager: Dennis Gardner
  • Production Assistant: Holly Sanderman


Gear

  • 2               HES Hog 4 consoles
  • 22            Claypaky B-Eye Washes
  • 30            Claypaky Mythos
  • 29            Ayrton MagicBlade-R’s
  • 16            Solaris Flares
  • 12            4-Light Mole Strips
  • 2               DF-50 hazers

Designer Insights by Steve Jennings

Vince Foster/lightdesign.uk

Production & Lighting Designer

Duran Duran played to a sold-out crowd in Oakland, CA at the historic Fox Theater. Longtime LD for the band, Vince Foster designed the show while fill-in lighting director Mark “Junior” Jacobson ran the console that evening. Foster, of lightdesign.uk (Jessie J, Jamiroquai, Kylie Minogue, Blur, Shakira, Massive Attack, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel) talked to us about the show and how he and band members Nick Rhodes and John Taylor came up with most of the ideas.

“The show’s design was originally thought up with band members Nick and John. They wanted to get the band to sit within the video. So we had a ribbon built in front of the risers and one directly behind about 1m higher and an 18m x 7m screen in the back. I usually sit with them together and individually and listen to what they want to say. I then start drawing it up and refine it until everyone’s happy.

It’s a very saturated, punchy show, and I really love the B-Eye fixtures as a great fat wash light and they also have some very cool effects. The Mythos are a great work horse as a wash, beam and spot all in one fixture. Both the Mythos and the Solaris Flares are very bright and the MagicBlades work really well in straight lines.

I prefer to run a show live. It could have been time coded but live keeps one more connected to what’s going on. Also, it means the show develops. Some of my worse mistakes become my best dis-coveries. I can see/hear the drummer at the beginning of the songs. There is always a count. All you have to do is hit the button at the right time and the video starts. Both fill-in LD Mark ‘Junior’ Jacobson and I are very familiar with the songs so there’s never a problem.

They band have a core of about 15 hits they play in the set list. They like to throw in that ‘rare’ song from time to time. I would say I probably have about 30 – 40 songs programmed. If they add anything else in they give me a bit of warning and I’ll program it in the after-noon of the show.

The video was created pretty much in rehearsals. I work a lot with an editor/content creator, Nick Clark-Lowes. We have a very good work structure. We just set up a content creation suite FOH in rehearsals. The original screen was a 9mm. But these days it varies as a lot of the time we are picking up local screens.

I’ve worked with this band now on and off for over 20 years. I have always been a great fan from the early ‘80s. It’s always a pleas-ure to be with them. They are genuinely nice people to be around. They consistently put on a great show as performers. Simon Le Bon is one of the best front men I’ve seen and I’ve seen a lot in my time!”

 

 More Duran Duran 2017 tour photos by Steve Jennings:

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