Robe on Sam Fender's UK Stadium Shows

	"We needed extreme brightness for these shows," Tozer says, explaining why iFORTE LTXs were chosen. Photo: Like Dyson

Lighting designer Sam Tozer, of the UK-based design firm Vision Factory, wanted to make a big impact for multi-award-winning singer-songwriter Sam Fender's four UK stadium shows -- collectively attended by nearly a quarter of a million fans -- and for such a large undertaking, he specified 189 Robe iFORTE LTX moving lights and four iBOLTS.

The performances were part of Fender's ongoing People Watching album campaign. The production equipment for these four shows -- three at Fender's hometown stadium of St. James' Park, Newcastle, and one in London -- was supplied by Liverpool-based Adlib (lighting, video, rigging, PA system) and Plymouth-based Nubsound (audio control).

To align with Fender's raw and original aesthetic, Tozer's primary lighting requirement was "sheer firepower," but applied simply to complement the epic cinematic aesthetic. "The tour had already played extensively in arenas, where the streamlined, clean-cut lighting treatment worked brilliantly and everyone loved it, so the main basic need for the stadium gigs was to scale this up," the designer says.

Tozer has been involved with the Fender creative team as show designer since 2020, and works closely with lighting director and show designer Luke Avery and video content creator James Lockey, together with production manager Rob Simpson and tour director Oli James.

Adlib has been the equipment vendor since 2018, starting with floor lighting and video packages. The account has grown exponentially and is managed enthusiastically for Adlib by Jordan Willis.

Being in midsummer, "We needed extreme brightness for these shows," Tozer says, explaining why iFORTE LTXs were chosen.

There was no roof above the band on the stage, custom-designed by Acorn Event Stages, so all gear needed to be IP-rated. Six cantilevered structural towers provided rigging points for four horizontal trusses in overhead positions just above the band playing area.

The look featured a wide upstage screen -- 164' wide by 33' high -- made up of transparent ROE Visual Vanish 8 LED product, which was framed on all four sides with iFORTES. A 22 x 4 matrix of iFORTES -- 88 in total -- was rigged behind the screen on ladders, which kicked some serious lumens into the picture when needed, and enabled the screen to appear one moment and magically dissolve the next. Tozer notes that, most of the time, these iFORTE LTXs were running only at 40%, leaving plenty of headroom for power stabs, accents, and looks.

Sixteen iFORTES were rigged in fours on the front side of each delay tower and used for key and front lighting on the band and for other specials. Tozer notes that they make "excellent face illumination, looking natural and well-balanced on camera."

Around six songs into the set, the stage was atmospherically lit using a base layer of video content, with iFORTES also mapped into the mix and triggered by the lighting console running Notch Blocks.

The four iBOLTS were rigged on top of the structural towers along the top side of the screen and used for dramatic beam effects. Using them straightforwardly and judiciously ensured maximum impact and a chorus of audible "wows" from the crowd, the company says.

Tozer's most exacting challenge for the stadium shows was integrating the structural elements of the stage into the overall picture, so they assisted in closing down the area for more intimate moments and for re-launching back into big-rock-legend scenes when needed.

Willis comments that, from a rental company standpoint, iFORTES are "a flagship profile" also versatile enough to be a front-of-house followspot and main key light fixture in stadiums: "The iFORTES have proved impressively bright for those first songs when you are playing outdoors in the summer, as well as incredibly reliable!"

Willis notes that Tozer -- winner of this year's TPi Lighting Designer of the Year Award -- showed "attention to detail related to every aspect of the show. He is highly creative, and a real team player who understands how things work and what is possible, or not, from the outset."