UK - Avolites Tiger Touch II consoles and Ai media servers were the perfect partners for The Charlatans, as they performed at Manchester's Castlefield Bowl for Summer in the City.
Appearing after a special event at Hotel Football the previous night, the band captivated the audience with an assortment of crowd-pleasers from their extensive catalogue, as well as new material from their latest album, Modern Nature.
Andy Liddle programmed and operated the lighting using an Avolites Tiger Touch II console, which controlled an array of lighting fixtures including Martin MAC Vipers, Quantum Washes, Atomic 3000s and Clay Paky Sharpys supplied and rigged by Adlib Lighting with a floor package from Lite Alternative consisting of Solaris Flares, i-Pix Satellite IIs and SGM X5s.
Chris Ewington of i-Pix programmed and operated the video content for the show, using 24 of the amazing Db1 video and lighting projectors. Designed by Ewington, even the simplest, plainest, or even monochrome graphics, are impressive to see projected from the Db1, in which a light valve projects a light forward from the screen in a defined, soft-edged beam.
For the Db-1 fixtures, driven by both DMX and video input, this was a first high-profile UK show. Prior to this, as many as 64 units had been used in Japan.
Control of the Db1s came in the shape of an Avolites Tiger Touch II console, which Ewington used in conjunction with the Ai S8 media server to send content to the 24 i-Pix fixtures, supplied and rigged by DBN, with AtoV supplying signal management for the Db1 array.
"Full control of the console added to the excitement of working with this new technology," says Ewington. "I chose the Tiger Touch II after being introduced to it at Frankfurt. I was a little surprised at just how good it was!"
Having previously operated using a Pearl console, Ewington has come into Titan at V9. He has quickly got to grips with the newest version of the Titan operating system, noting that: "Avolites has really listened to its customer base."
Ewington comments: "They've gone into the software and delivered some stuff that is out of this world! Things like Key Frame Shapes allows you to get a lot out of the desk very quickly. It's great that I'm able to create my own buttons and to use Quicksketch. I particularly like the CITP functionality and the thumbnails - it's very easy to program and operate."
Speaking about the Ai media server that drove the content, Ewington stated that the interface is really intuitive: "With 24 songs to program, and limited time to do it, I needed the power of the media server to help manipulate the content. I learnt the software by simply reading the instruction manual, watching some video tutorials online, and by playing. I had a rough understanding of how these things work, but it comes very naturally, and it was easy to bounce around once I had the basics. There is so much functionality in the server - there's always more to learn. It was a pleasure to work with, and the support was brilliant. Definite thumbs up!
"As a hometown show, this concert was a big deal for the band, and as such was a good opportunity for try something different. I got a big thanks off the management and Andy who were very happy!"
Live photos: Shirlaine Forrest