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Bill Bailey on tour with Robe’s Spiiders and MMX Spots

English comedian, musician, singer, actor, TV/radio presenter and author Bill Bailey is back on the road for his “Larks in Transit” tour which was first performed in Australia in October 2017. Dave Farmer of THC Design’s, Bailey’s lighting designer for the last seven years, added Robe to the mix in the form of Spiiders and MMX Spots for the current UK theatre leg of the tour, which kicked off with five gigs at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London over the festive period.

Dave Farmer took a brief from the artist ahead of the tour, and that was to make it simple and stripped back. He didn’t want any video, rather favouring a classic stand-up ambience onstage, with all the focus on him and his routines.

Farmer took the backdrop they had used in Australia as a scenic starting point for the visual design. Originally this was a map of the world, which he re-imagined as a scenic circular globe suspended inside a circular truss and fitted into a cut out backdrop. This brings an authentic 3D impression to the stage and to the audience, it looks like a complete globe. Further upstage is a starcloth.

A lot of the routine and subject matter involves tales from Bailey’s trips, travels and adventures around the world. Farmer added four vertical trussing towers to the design using the original backdrop artwork from Australia to provide a consistent theme across all set objects.

The lighting provider was Sonalyst, so there was an inventory of Robe available to facilitate Farmer’s design. The five Spiiders are positioned around the circle, together with four MMX Spots and three 4-lite LED blinders. On the floor in front of the circle are three MMX Spots and two 4-lite LED blinders, and on each of the four vertical towers which are wrapped in the same material as the backdrop, are another four MMX Spots positioned on top. The tower metalwork is highlighted on three sides by Satellite LED ‘bricks’ and they also have two FOH follow spots on the road.

Two Spiiders are positioned - via angled pipes inserted in the truss - at 8 ft high around the circle, two at 18 ft, and the fifth at 20 ft. They are running in the simplest mode as individual pixel control was not required. Lighting is run from a Hog 4 console being operated for the tour by Chad O’Grady, and Dave Baxter is the technician.

(Photos: Lindsay Cave)

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