HSL on Alexandra Burke's All Night Long UK Tour

Blackburn UK-based HSL supplied lighting equipment and crew for Alexandra Burke's All Night Long UK tour for Production North.

It was the first solo headline tour for the former X Factor winner, for which a lighting design was created by Phil Wiffin. Together with special video content by Helena Spencer, choreography by Sisco Gomez, and Burke's highly energetic performance, the show was a slick "cocktail of entertainment" encompassing a variety of styles and genres from urban to pop.

Mike Oates, HSL's project manager, says, "The show looked great, and Production North produced a brilliant result with real diversity and value, which was flexible and adaptable to fit into the range of venues on the itinerary."

Dominic Crookes operated the show, working with HSL tech Jason Dixon. Crooks and Wiffin programmed the show during one production day ahead of the first gig at Rhyl Pavilion in Wales.

The set featured a wide set of steps at center stage ,with a walkway at the back and two sets of side stairs feeding off left and right.

The lighting rig was based on three trusses. On the front truss were two Vari*Lite 3000 Spots and eight Robe ColorWash 2500E ATs. The mid truss had eight GLP Impression Zoom LED washes and a kabuki drop, which came down at the top of the set, half way through the intro.

On the back truss nine Philips Vari*Lite VL3000s and 10 more GLP Impression Zooms. Hanging on wires from it were five panels of Pixled F15 LED screen, supplied by XL Video, and, rigged on drop pipes positioned between the video panels, were four Robe ROBIN 300 Beams.

On the floor were another six Robe ColorWash 2500E ATs -- two downstage left and two downstage right each side, plus two more in the upstage corners. They were joined by four ROBIN 300 Beams downstage and upstage left and right.

Making the most of convenient clamp points on the set handrails were four i-Pix BB7s pointing directly forward and accentuating the depth of the performance space, their petal like shape adding some more visual interest to the picture.

Twelve vertical Sunstrips were distributed evenly between front and back trusses and the floor. These were used for subtle "creeping" chase effects and also as more non conventional blinders.

Says Crookes, "It was a great tour to work on, lots of nice friendly people, sold out shows and an excellent vibe. The tech support from HSL has been brilliant as always."

Sound was supplied by Wigwam, also a regular Production North choice, with Mark Littlewood mixing at the front of house and Andy "Baggy" Robinson on monitors. Technical stage manager was James Kelly and production coordinator, Jill Aram.