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ChamSys powers Those Damn Crows arena debut

Fresh off their successful EU tour, Welch rockers Those Damn Crows were back home to play their first ever UK headline show on December 14, 2024, at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena. The show’s lighting design by Gary Sharpe of Creative Productions Solutions was run by Adam McNally of Stage 11 Productions.

They specified a collection of ChamSys products: the MagicQ MQ500M+ Stadium console at FOH, with a MQ500M back up, and a Magic Q MQ250M Stadium Console for side of stage SFX, along with GN10 and GN5 for network.

“This was the band’s first arena show, and we wanted to make it very special”, says Sharpe. “Adam did a marvelous job as did Damo Hartshorn, our SFX Operator. We were also greatly aided by Zig Zag Lighting Ltd., our main lighting provider. Neil Hunt (owner/founder of ZZ) went above and beyond with all the changes.”

“ChamSys made things go smoothly for all of us”, continues Sharpe.  “I first encountered the console on cruise ships, but then picked it back up in 2018 and since then I like to have ChamSys on all my shows. As a very hands-on PM, I like to understand how the programming is coming along. Also, I like to be able to set up calls with the ChamSys technical support team.”

Half of the show at Cardiff was timecoded. For the half that was not, McNally used the Cue Stack feature on his console with busking elements included, so the show still had a “live feel”. For McNally, who has been a ChamSys user since the start of his career, the Cardiff show represented a new experience. “This show was run solely on Group Cues”, he says. “All effects were group cued. This was the first time I had ever worked that way.”

The new Countdown Timer feature in the Cue Stack variables was especially appreciated by McNally in this show. “We greatly depended on the Cue Stack’s countdown timer functionality, to monitor the amount of flame fluid/smoke fluid that had been used during the show”, he says.

Much of the time during the show the SFX was timecoded. However, there were points when these effects were trigged manually for some songs. This made it necessary to have a precise and accurate reading on how much fluid was left in the machines. “The Countdown Timer was essential at those moments”, McNally concludes.

(Photos: Jason Bulpin/Beyond The Noise Photography)

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