Mumford & Sons follow Delta Route with Kinesys posted: 16/06/2019
Talented UK alt-folk rock band Mumford & Sons are midway through a world tour promoting their fourth studio album, Delta, which dropped at the end of 2018. The live show features a stunning and highly creative lighting design by long term LD Ed Warren and Phil Kaikoura which includes an extensive Kinesys automation system.
The Kinesys Apex System being used on the tour was chosen and invested in by UK-based Brilliant Stages who designed and provided the mothergrid system. Also in use are a series of bespoke spine trusses designed to span under venue score boards. The Kinesys motors are mounted inside Brilliant's own custom truss sections, with two motors per section of truss that are then attached to the mothergrid spines through connection plates.
The lighting design started with Ed and Phil receiving a brief from the band containing -amongst other things - some cryptic statements about what Delta meant to them, which was followed by several months of back-and-forth, with set / video designers Stufish, Ed and Phil all throwing different ideas and proposals into the mix to see what stuck.
Show designer Ric Lipson from Stufish always planned an in-the-round show which brought many physical challenges for lighting - restricted positions for overhead trussing, sightlines, the band being able to move freely around the space, etc. Setup and rigging time were another major consideration as the dates were booked before the production was finalised!
All of this led to the essence of the lighting design being based on a series of moving pods. These could be varied according to the size and shape of the venues and followed Ed and Phil's original concept, which was to fill that over-stage void - common to in-the-round stage designs - with practical production elements.
Often, this space might be filled with LED screens, but Ed and Phil explained that the band have never been keen on big LED video looks, so they instead produced a solution to transform the space that could build and change throughout the show and also offer a level of inclusion' for the audience.
The flat 5ft high stage in the centre of the arena measures 12 by 7.5 metres, and above this are the 14 lighting pods - trusses connected by a special cradle - and each one is picked up by the two Kinesys 500kg Apex motors.
The pods were designed to be more sculptural than utilitarian. The shape came loosely from the classic Mumford wings with a slight copper powdered coating reflecting the lights from above when the pods are lowered.
The construction of the pods is designed so they simply split in the middle with a few catches. From the dolly, it only takes a couple of crew to clip each end of the pods together, before they are attached to the Kinesys Apex motor and flown up in a matter of minutes.
The pods are each loaded with four Portman P2s, a single Martin MAC Aura XB and a GLP JDC1 LED strobe and they move into different positions and looks.
There are also six lighting trusses, with the four centremost also each on two Kinesys motors making up a total of 36 Kinesys points.
Ed had previously used Kinesys on the band's last Wilder Mind tour, but it soon became clear that Delta would be a whole new level in terms of automation complexity and sophistication.
As the design developed and started to involve a huge number of live' moves happening above the band and the stage space right in the centre of the arena, they wanted a super safe automation product and the new Apex system ticked this box with its almost endless list of safety protocols and protection, explained Ed.
On a design note, he adds that it was also capable of creating the very fluid and elegant moves and subtleties we needed for the different pod scenes.
A series of shapes are created throughout the set combining the fourteen pods and four lighting trusses, varying from asymmetric and a sloping low ceiling over the stage, to pointing the pods out to face the crowd, creating a wall of light.
This shifting architecture provides a fantastically dynamic environment for the performance.
The pods also move in a wave formation during a couple of songs and a slow corkscrew motion on others bringing an additional energy to the show.
For the big pyro moment during Darkness Visible all three of the lighting trusses fly in as low as possible to the stage - around 7ft - just above the band's heads, with pyro comets shooting up into the rig creating a super dramatic look.
In addition, there is a ring of lighting trusses around the stage with Zactrack controlled Claypaky Scenius Unicos which are mapped seamlessly so they fade between zones around the space for key lighting.
Automation proved a perfect visual solution for this scenario where Ed and Phil needed to get as much variation as possible in a technically challenging in-the-round format, stated Ed.
With no backlight and working only with lighting from directly above the band, they had to be imaginative and think out-of-the-box to get the best effects.
The 36 Apex motors are being controlled by Luke Williams operating a Kinesys Vector PC based controller - part of Brilliant's purchase which was masterminded for them by Ben Brooks.
During the production rehearsal period at Fly by Nite's studios in Redditch, Luke, Ed and Phil created around 30 different and unique pod looks including an all-important V formation - a nod to the classic Mumford wings', and the aforementioned eye-catching continuous corkscrew movement.
At the top of the set, the pods start in a homed' flat position. A few numbers in, some pods - still in the flat position - sneak down to their mid' height flown positions as the first moves start to unfold.
As the set builds, more interesting looks are introduced, in
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Thursday 2 July 2026
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen
Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that span...
01/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
01/07/2026
Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...
01/07/2026
9.2 million streams on RT Player between 11 and 28 June
Reach of 2.9 million viewers during Group stages of FIFA World Cup on RT 2
23 million video views acr...
30/06/2026
Could your journalism reach an international stage?
Entries are now open for the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2026, one of the most prestigi...
30/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
30/06/2026
New IR reverb engine, Juno-inspired chorus & more
The latest version of Rapid Flow's hardware-emulation synth plug-in expands on its predecessor with a ...
30/06/2026
Excels at heavy-handed VCA compression
For their latest release, Shy Audio have recreated the crunchy' sound of a rackmount compressor that found its w...
30/06/2026
Component scarcity drives cost increases
Shortly after Apple's CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that cost increases would soon be inevitable , the company hav...
30/06/2026
Hitachi and Bank Pekao S.A. have completed the installation of the first Hitachi...
30/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/06/2026
Four-layer instrument aimed at dark electronic music
Excite Audio's latest software instrument has been designed with dark drum and bass, atmospheric te...
29/06/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
29/06/2026
Details environmental policies & results
The Focusrite Group have just announced that following a long audit process, they have published their 2026 sustain...
29/06/2026
Arvato Systems Achieves AWS Cloud Operations Competency
The team behind the AWS Cloud Operations Competency (from left to right: Philipp Hellmich, Johanna Bod...
29/06/2026
RT today announced that Ger Gilroy will join the RT Podcasts team to present a daily sports podcast. Launching later this year, the new show will set the spor...
29/06/2026
RT Commercial announced OUTsurance as sponsor of the Oliver Callan show on RT Radio 1 from Wednesday 1 July.
Oliver Callan doubles the fun, delivering two ...
28/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
28/06/2026
New EXO Series DSP control software announced
EVE Audio's EXO Series monitor range has just gained a new software element that provides remote access to...
27/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
26/06/2026
Virtual session musician plug-in gains new percussion options
Celemony's latest update for their virtual session musician platform complements the exist...
26/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
26/06/2026
ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...
26/06/2026
Flicker Productions to produce five-part docu-reality series following women who have fallen for men in prison and have become TikTok sensations, with brands an...
26/06/2026
Catch up on the latest developments across Baselight and Daylight v7, Nara and F...
26/06/2026
26. June 2026 News
DFT is pleased to announce that a second Polar HQ film s...
Mumford & Sons follow Delta Route with Kinesys posted: 16/06/2019 
