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July 2015 entertainment, presentation, installation

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Mark KnopflerTours with a theatrical touch . . .

Eurovision 2015Producing the TV Spectacular

Clay Paky’s MythosAssessed in Technical Focus

A UK first for CALMeyer at St Paul’s Girls’ School

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For his latest tour, Mark

Knopfler is employing the

services of well-known

theatre LD Mark Henderson,

following the designer’s

success last year with Kate

Bush’s comeback shows.

Kate Lyon reports . . .

Tracking the Theatrics on Mark KnopflerUK - You don’t arrive at a Mark Knopfler giglooking for a rock/pop experience. Instead,you can look forward to musicianship of thehighest calibre, lyrical narratives brushedupon a broad landscape of what could bedescribed as ‘colonial folk’. For any intuitiveadmirer of Knopfler’s work, the foundations ofwhere he is now were transparent in thestorylines of iconic Dire Straits tracks likeMoney for Nothing, Telegraph Road and allthe way back to The Sultans of Swing.

Creating a look for a show of this nature must besomething of a delicate operation. Despite theacknowledgement that the music comes first, thevery nature of the songs demands a subtle theatricalbackdrop that reflects the intelligence in the songwriting. Mark Henderson, a lighting designer with a formidable theatrical CV who has already dippedhis toe into the rather mercurial sphere of live musiclighting design with his much admired design onKate Bush’s Before The Dawn last year, is thedesigner charged with this particular task.

Henderson explains: “I was approached by theproduction manager, Kevin Hopgood, who had seenthe Kate Bush show. Mark was looking for a newdesigner and had mentioned that he wanted a moretheatrical approach and so Kevin put the twotogether and here we are. I was very interested indoing more music-oriented productions after theKate Bush show. I have a great affinity and passionfor music and so it suits me perfectly to be given the

opportunity. Mark’s music is full of atmosphere andmood and so is perfect for creating settings andlandscapes for the music to work in - very theatricalin fact!”

“When we were looking a new designer,” explainsHopgood, “it was a case of finding someone whocould exploit the landscapes that Mark creates in hismusic in a way that enhances it without distractingfrom the listening experience. I hadn’t worked withMark [Henderson] before but had seen Before TheDawn and been impressed with his use of subtletone and colour. Everyone was very happy with theinitial concept drawings and we went from there.”

“Mark Knopfler was very positive with the preliminarylooks I forwarded to him,” continues Henderson. “SoI based the technical design on achieving thosepictures in reality. When we were doing some earlyWYSIWYG programming and then in the productionrehearsals, Mark was around and he was keen tooffer suggestions and comments about how he sawthe mood for particular songs.”

It fell to technical production company Hawthorn totranslate Henderson’s ideas into reality. Hawthorn’sability to supply every facet of the visual aspect ofthe production was an important asset, as Hopgoodsays: “Hawthorn provides a really straightforward, all encompassing and efficient operation. As a production manager that means a great deal:lights, screens, drapes and associated rigging plusall those little bits in between, are all taken care of.Hawthorn account handler Mick Freer must take

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a great deal of credit for the smooth runningof putting the production together. Nothingwas too much trouble: one phone call and a Hawthorn van would arrive. The companyalso exudes the same kind of caring, family-orientated, ethos that the Knopflerproduction recognises as being the mostcivilised and sustainable way to conduct a tour, so that we felt we were all on thesame wavelength.”

For Henderson, who was working insomething of a new, rather alienenvironment, the support from Hawthornwas invaluable: “Mick and his team atHawthorn have been wonderful and haveprovided a first class service, offeringadvice and suggestions to make it all workas it should. The kit has all been fantasticand I know that the company has made a major investment in equipment for theMark Knopfler tour, including MAC Vipers, ofwhich there are quite a few, which werespecified specifically for my design. I’mused to working within a design andproduction team whereas here I was prettymuch on my own in developing the basiclook. In theatre you are normally presentedwith the scenery to light but I quicklyrealised that it was up to me to create theformat for everything to work in. HavingMick and the Hawthorn crew to support memade the process really enjoyable.”

The rig may appear to be dominated by anarray of Martin MAC Vipers but the doublescreens which provide all the backgroundwarmth and tones are lit by 42 Chroma-QColor Force 72 LED battens. Softness andmood are also added by Arri 5K fresnelsfitted with colour change scrollers that arerigged on side frames stage left and right.Much of the rig was bought specifically forthis tour by Hawthorn, including the ChauvetNexus Aw 7x7 LED Panels. These arerigged as audience blinders but theirprogramming features allow them to beused in far more imaginative ways oncertain numbers in the set.

Henderson explains his choices: “The righas a lot of Vipers, basically chosen for theirversatility, clean beam and quietness. Thereare some Sharpy Washes to add somecolour and beams. The 5ks are there tosupplement the warmer tones that you don’talways get from moving lights with any kind

of intensity; they have scrollers with justwarm tones. The Color Force battensprovide the cyc washes top and bottom withthe LEDs giving endless colouropportunities and good intensity. There aretwo runs of Color Force battens providing a close-up horizontal line behind each cycto offer some suggestion of horizons andthen to add some effects. I have used thehorizontal lines as an effect on previousproductions and find them a useful tool tosuggest breadth of landscape and depth ofperspective, both of which are closely alliedto Mark’s lyric content.”

Alongside crew chief Steve ‘Stona’ Rusling,lighting techs Tom Crosbie, Joe Simpsonand Dan Oswald and rigger Seth Cook, isboard operator Tellson James. “It has beena real pleasure working with Mark,”comments James, who is operating theshow on a Hog 4 console with a Hog FullBoar Backup Console on reserve. James’CV stretches back a full 25 years but thiswas the first time their paths hadconverged. “Although Mark has a clearperception of what he is aiming for, I alsofelt that we worked together very positivelyduring rehearsals and I’ve been able todevelop the way the show looks from there.The theatrical legacy of his design makes ita joy to operate and I’m able to createdelicate, warm looks whilst still using boldcolour options to delineate mood andrhythm.”

Henderson concurs enthusiastically:“Tellson - and the rest of the team - havebeen absolutely brilliant, really skilled,supportive and fun to be with. Tellson couldpretty much see from the outset what wewere looking for and was very empathic withthe whole process.”

“This was a first for me in many ways,”concludes Henderson. “In terms of creatinga total look and in the way I interacted withHawthorn, account handler Mick Freer, crewchief Stona and the tech crew, Tom, Joe andDan. I was really pleasantly surprised by theprofessionalism and conscientiousapproach by everyone involved.”

Mark Knopfler’s Tracker tour continues inEurope until the end of July, then the USAbeckons for the remainder of 2015.

> www.hawthorns.uk.com

L-R: Board operator Tellson James with Hawthorn’s Mick Freer.

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NewsSp_MarkKnopfler:News DPS 08/07/2015 12:18 Page 17

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Mark Henderson - Lighting Designer, Mark Knopfler 2015 ‘Tracker Tour’. Lighting supplied by Hawthorn, UK.

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