UK – Cheeky British singer Jessie J has been ‘doing it like a dude’ on her first arena tour of the UK, with a bright and visually striking show created by lighting designer Vince Foster, which featured a large number of Clay Paky Sharpys and Sharpy Washes.
Every moment of Jessie J’s fast-paced UK arena show ‘ALIVE’ was packed with stunning lighting, video, special effects. Foster works in synchronicity with Jessie herself, to deliver a sleek set and lighting concept, that complements Paul Caslin’s clever mix of video production ensuring that ALIVE is uncompromisingly stimulating and hugely uplifting.
The scale of the show is ambitious. Foster’s super-wide 72-foot ‘widescreen’ style stage design comprises three portrait-hung LED screens positioned up-stage centre, while the rest of the set is visually sculpted using 600 horizontally positioned LED strips. Either side of stage two I-Mags deliver live camera feeds. Together they convey a vivid mix of stunning lighting looks and video effects.
In terms of actual luminaires Foster has been economical, opting for fixtures that fulfil a multiplicity of roles, while keeping fixture numbers to a minimum: “I specified Clay Paky’s Sharpy Washes because in addition to their brightness they’re extremely lightweight. In addition we use the standard Clay Paky Sharpys for a variety of effects.”
The result for Foster – who has worked with some of the biggest names in pop including Westlife, Blur, and Jamiroquai – is a multi-layered visual extravaganza that offers a huge variety of looks from intimate closed down scenes to video packed, visually dynamic full stage pictures. Lighting – color and effects – work seamlessly with the video to ensure Jessie J is always the dominant presence on the stage.
“With so much video and LED kit to hang, each onstage truss was starting to get pretty heavy,” explains Foster. “This meant we had to find ways to keep weight down without compromising creatively. The Sharpy and Sharpy Washes offered the ideal solution. The results were fantastic. We achieved the brightness and the standard of effects we wanted. I particularly love the new Sharpy Wash – it has a great zoom, its light weight and has a fantastic output.”
Of course Foster is no stranger to Clay Paky fixtures – earlier this year he employed a battalion of Clay Paky fixtures to honour Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne. For the televised Coronation Festival Gala, held in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace, he used more than 150 Clay Paky fixtures including: Alpha Wash 1200, Alpha Spot HPE 1200, Alpha Profile 1500, Sharpys, Sharpy Washes 330, and Alpha Profile 700s for the main stage, while a further 16 Clay Paky Alpha Wash 700 were used to light the Palace itself.
Neg Earth supplied the Clay Paky fixtures to the Jessie J tour. Ambersphere Solutions is the Clay Paky exclusive Distributor for United Kingdom and Ireland.
ALIVE toured some of the UK’s biggest arenas in October and November, including Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, the Manchester Arena, and London’s O2.