U2 360° Tour
PRG’s Bad Boy illuminates U2 in largest-ever concert tour.
The Challenge: Provide a luminaire with the intensity to handle long distances while offering traditional features such as color, gobos and zoom.
The Solution: Willie Williams, U2’s Show Director/Designer, working closely with Architect/Designer Mark Fisher and Production Director Jake Berry, has created a scenic and lighting structure that is the largest ever designed for a concert tour. “The goal always for me is when the fans come into the stadium they see something the likes of which they have never seen before,” he explained.
The structure created a challenge for the designer as the only lighting fixture positions were unusually far from the stage. The PRG Bad Boy® luminaire was the solution. “The throw distances that we are dealing with are much longer then you would normally ever deal with for all the lighting positions, never mind the lights around the stadium,” said Williams. “There is no way you could use old school moving lights, plus I needed a light that would not just reach and wash but would be able to have texture.”
PRG arranged a fixture demonstration at Wembley Stadium so that Williams could evaluate the Bad Boy and other lights in a real world environment. “What I found interesting about the light is that PRG started with the application in their fixture design, which was to create a light for large scale shows, arenas, stadiums,” said Williams. “That has been their master stroke, to start with what the light is intended to do and really work towards that particular goal. When you are at the back of Wembley Stadium, you need a light with the gas to get to the stage.”
Williams decided to use the Bad Boy as his only automated luminaire, with his final design calling for 196 fixtures. The Bad Boy easily handles the distances, which range from 80 feet to 400 feet. It was a bold choice to base an entire design around only the Bad Boy and Williams had to wait until the lighting system was powered up for the first time at the venue to know for certain that his idea would work. “When I got to rehearsal, we still had a few days before the system was turned on. I was a little antsy waiting to see what these things would do under show conditions. I think it is fair to say they are absolutely remarkable.”
Lighting Director Ethan Weber understood Williams’ initial concern. “There is nothing else—spot, wash lights—everything you do is with the Bad Boy and coming into rehearsals it was a light none of us had ever used before,” said Weber. “When we turned them on it was pretty obvious it was the right way to go. We have all been very impressed. I don’t know of any other light that can do this.”
PRG supplied the entire lighting package for the tour. While Weber handles all the automated fixtures, lighting associate Alex Murphy calls the cues for the 25 followspots and controls the LEDs in the set with the PRG Mbox® Extreme Media Server.
The power and data system for the U2 tour was designed by System Crew Chief Craig Hancock, who worked closely with Jeremy Lloyd and Nick Evans of Fisher’s Stufish studio integrating the lighting system into the actual structural system. Chris Conti, PRG product manager, also worked closely with Hancock on the layout. Conti explained, “All together we have a total of 24 universes of DMX. We have S400 racks at the bottom of each leg of the structure, which are in custom dimmer carts that Craig designed. They also contain S400 main breaker racks, dimmer and relay racks, strobe distribution racks, communications, etc. There are two carts of S400 and two dimmer carts up on catwalks in the roof structure that handle the power and data for the pylon.”
Williams was very pleased with PRGs efforts on behalf of the tour. “At the end of the day it is about people and if you don’t have the right people it is just not going to happen,” he stated. “I am absolutely delighted. You can’t do this by second-guessing; I just have to have complete faith that people are doing what they are supposed to be doing. You really have to trust.”