UNITED KINGDOM – Anyone lucky enough to get to a Kings of Leon show this summer will have seen one of those memorable gigs that stay with you for months, even years, after the event. The stunning combination of light and video was the work of Paul Normandale: a designer who never fails to deliver. Classically Normandale in its asymmetrics and little idiosyncratic touches it was left to board operator Ali Bale to elicit the best out of Normandale’s design.
Normandale has generously populated the Kings of Leon’s rig with Clay Paky Sharpies. “The Sharpy is a great unit that bring something new to the table,” comments Bale. “It does exactly what it sets out to do and provides a unique and exciting element to a busy light market where manufacturers are always trying to keep one stop ahead of their rivals. I saw some recently used in conjunction with some lasers and was pretty blown away with how the Sharpys sat alongside them. With KOL we have them both in the air and on the floor; they function equally well in either elevation. They have been very reliable although with a beam that miniscule you have to really check all your positions at every load in; a tiny shift in locating a pre-programmed position will look massive over a long distance. On this rig we were looking for a very narrow beam look from a rig that trims out at over 55ft where we have clearance. The Sharpies have definitely delivered.”
For Bale, this was also the inaugural journey on a grandMA2 console. “I had been using the same desk almost exclusively for the last fifteen years; like most people you tend to stick to what you’re used to. A desk is a very personal choice but Paul encouraged me, telling me that I wouldn’t regret giving the MA2 a try. And, in fact, it was the ability of the board to allow you to set it up in such a way that is unique to its user is something that I feel is real strength of the console – something that initially won me over – without being limited to a fixed set of windows and faders which cannot be altered too much. For me and I’m sure a lot of MA users, the real time is spent setting up your desk, doing your house keeping and storing that file as a template for current and future programming with only minor tweaks in preparation for the next scenario you find yourself in. In that way it’s an incredibly adaptable and versatile desk.”
Ambersphere Solutions is the UK distributor for Clay Paky, MA Lighting and Robert Juliat.