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UK Lighting Designer, Tim Routledge, is the mastermind behind the lighting design of one of the biggest stadium-touring shows in 2016; Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour. After playing six concert in five venues, the UK leg of the tour concluded in Glasgow’s Hampden Park before moving on to Ireland and mainland Europe.
After a ‘Summer Shootout’ held in London, using SGM units at Carfest and The White Rose at London’s O2 Arena, Tim literally saw the light in SGM’s fixtures and consequently specified 602 Q-7s and 22 G-Spots for his design for the upcoming Formation World Tour.
Tim explained: “This fixture was my immediate choice for this tour. I needed a bright color-changing source that would make a huge impact and – most importantly – would be weatherproof.” In collaboration with Production Designer, Es Devlin, and Lighting Director, Jonathan Rouse, Tim designed what they call a ‘Strobe Horizon’, with the 602 Q-7s forming a curved structure that surrounds a massive, monolithic LED cube in the center of the stage.
Tim said: “We all agreed that rectangular fixtures rather than circular sources would be ideal for this production, and would match the expression of the LED video monolith. So the Q-7 was the obvious choice.” As rehearsals were rapidly approaching, and Tim needed to source enough Q-7 fixtures for the design, tension rose. In collaboration with Neg Earth, SGM made it happen.
According to Tim: “SGM were superb in their support of me on this show and worked closely with Neg Earth to achieve what I needed and to ensure that all the units color-matched.” The large-quantity order of Q-7s had SGM’s production facilities working round the clock for several weeks. The shipment was delivered to Rock Lititz in Pennsylvania in time for the rehearsals which took place during first weeks of April.
Peter Johansen, SGM CEO, said: “Even though Tim was cutting it fine, we set sails to deliver. At SGM we like to go above and beyond to make sure we provide the lighting community with the right tools for the job – even at the last minute. Seeing how Tim has brought our Q-7s to life on the shows makes it all worth it. Well done, Tim!”
See the Q-7s and G-Spots in action in this official Beyoncé video:
The 22 G-Spots are used both on the B-stage and on the floor of the main stage. Eight of them are placed on each side of the water basin to crosslight the B stage. Since kicking off, the outdoor tour has been exposed to the elements – particularly heavy rains. During the first leg of the tour the crew struggled with regular torrential downpours that eventually led to equipment breakdowns.
Nick Barton, Crew Chief, said about the SGM fixtures: ”It’s nice not having to worry about them when it’s bucketing down with rain.”
Jonathan added: “The Q7s have been rock solid, delivering fantastic vivid looks in the fiercest of weathers. Whether it’s been blazing sun or snow their uniform colors have shone through day after day. We use a truly wide pallette on the Beyoncé tour, from soft pastels to the hardest reds and bright whites. They’ve delivered everything and there’s never been a color we couldn’t achieve.”
To sum up the experience with SGM and SGM fixtures, Tim concluded: “If ever there was a perfect product for the job, it was these.”
