PRG Best Boy 4000 Shapes Lighting at Robbie Williams' ConcertsBritish pop-star Robbie Williams brought high-octane production to the stage at London's O2 Arena for three nights of concerts, Live at the O2, November 22-24. The UK's best-selling solo artist, Williams' much anticipated return to performing full-set concerts was also a live television event, broadcast on the final night across England's Sky1 network. Production Resource Group, L.L.C., (PRG) provided the lighting package including its Best Boy 4000 Spot Luminaire. Creative director Willie Williams and set designer Mark Fisher designed an in-the-round production that not only showcased the artist but also highlighted the energy of performing at the world-class venue. The production had to work for both the live audience at the O2 and for the international television broadcast. Williams asked lighting designer Allen Branton to consult on the television lighting. Williams and Branton selected the PRG Best Boys as their keylight to accurately control the lighting, an important consideration for the in-the-round staging. The 40-plus lights allowed them to put the light exactly where they wanted it, according to the company, due to the Best Boys' precise shutters. Branton, who has collaborated often with Williams, noted that they both were hyper-aware of the challenges of lighting a televised concert in-the-round. "Willie and I spoke about the audience and what the augmentation for television should be; especially having to deal with an audience as background to virtually all cameras," explained Branton. "One of the challenges is that you don't always want to see all the audience and the architectural elements in all the shots. We knew that we would need a high output, shutterable light that allowed us accurate control to cut in to just the audience at the barricades and not show security or crew, as well as controlling spill. The Best Boy is a great light, which gave us the fine control that we needed and with its clever optics gave us far more output than I would have expected." "Also, I do appreciate having shutters and an iris in the same unit, not to mention the wonderful zoom range," continued Branton. "With the Best Boy, we now have a true performance, high output automated ellipsoidal-style fixture. It has a clean field and stable color temperature, which can be easily altered using the color temp wheel." "I enjoyed using the Best Boys for the Robbie Williams O2 shows as their brightness and intensity of color allowed us to paint the stage in many different ways," commented Williams. "Being in the round meant that the stage surface itself was the most prominent set piece, so being able to change its appearance radically was extremely helpful. I enjoyed having new gobos and prism sets to play with; and the two-in-one moiré gobos were particularly useful." After the successful O2 shows, Robbie Williams' Take the Crown tour of the United Kingdom and Europe was announced for summer 2013. 
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